You may have heard my talk about my friend Jesslyn. She is one of my world’s most stellar human beings, and that’s saying a lot because my life is full of some pretty darn phenomenal people. Jesslyn is one of those people who need to put bridesmaids dresses on their budget, right after food and car insurance because — even if, like me, you don’t see her that much — she makes you feel seen and loved. She gives excellent advice, has a dead-on ear for dialogue, and sings beautifully. Plus she uses phrases like “that girl could go bear hunting with a switch,” which is to say she makes the most of being Southern.
Jesslyn lives in Athens, Georgia. She owns a house there, and is a productively employed, responsible citizen, who supports her family and does her grandma’s grocery shopping, while also being an awesome friend to countless people, married and unmarried. She herself is married to a total gem of a fellow, and they have one heck of a cool three year old for a daughter. Also, she drinks bubbly water by the case, and coolly calls them “cold ones.”
It has recently come to my attention that Jesslyn is madly envious of me being in Paris. Which I understand. She says that when she gets sad for no reason, it is because she never got to walk around Paris at night and now she is too old. Which she is not, but that’s not the point.
The thing is, I am really envious of her too. Yes, I get to walk around Paris for a month, which is really, really great. And back in Seattle I have some really good things, especially people and Squinchy and a weighty amount of autonomy. I am doing my writing, and I have work I love. But Jesslyn has a husband who pollinates orchids with pencils. She has a daughter who stands in the cat’s water bowl when she gets too hot. She owns a house in a town she loves and she gets to see her grandmother at least as often as she wants to.
And when I am sad for no reason, all that is exactly what I feel like I’m missing.