1. She spends hours waiting for buses to go to and from a gym on Sunday afternoons so she can 'bump into him' at there and watch him lift weights from afar. Note that there is gym across the street from where we live.

2. She insists that it was worth the trip, even though it took longer to get a bus than she spent there.

3. She makes her roomie get up early on a Monday to braid her hair so she can look pretty for his class.

Today marks exactly a year since my grandfather's death. My mom called me last night, talking about how hard today would be for our family, and how she was having my grandmother over for tonight so she wouldn't be alone all day today. My Pop's death certainly wasn't easy on me- I spent months refusing to even think about it before I practically had a break down in September. But the main thing on my mind today isn't how much I miss my Pop, or how he's gone, or how the hospital where he died is right outside my bedroom window in clear view. I can't stop thinking about the fact that I'm not really sad. That in and of itself makes me feel a little guilty, especially how when my mom said to me on Sunday, "Today marks the anniversary of the last time you ever saw him," I had completely forgotten about it. I knew the anniversary of his death was coming, but the last time I saw him hadn't crossed my mind.

I was sitting around last night, hanging up my laundry as I watched my friends hurry around the hallways of our building, getting ready to 'go out.' Whether they were heading for a bar, club, or house party of some sort, the main goal of the night is always simply to get plastered, so they can spend the next day talking about just how drunk they got and all the hilarity that ensued. In the past, I had always hung back from other groups of friends going on these outings, being sure that I wasn't missing out on much. But with the start of a new semester at a new campus last fall, I decided, 'what the hell, it's time I get out and live it up while I still can.' I had no idea how inherently short-lived this new take on life would be.