ode to athena

athena decrime aka decrizzle aka amy smith has been a part of my life since 2005.

we met when i tried out for the windy city rollers. she was one of the first people to talk to me at the recruitment event and she hand picked me from about 30ish "skater tots" to be a part of her team.
she captained me for 3 years and i guess we started to get close which is par the course when you are around someone for 4-5 days out of every week.

i don't know what the turning point was though, where we went from being skating buddies to real life friends. it was probably when we started taking trips together for travel team about two years ago and realized that we were really the only people we could stand being around in confined quarters. whatever it was that made that friendship blossom, she is now one of my best friends and someone i would do anything for.

this year has seen it's share of ups and downs for us and somehow we have weathered all the storms. in all honesty i'm thankful because i'm not sure what i'd do if she wasn't around.

no one would really understand how she lights up my life but...
things like telling me i IM like i talk...thus making me uncontrollably laugh like she always does...
or indulging me when i'm having moments of mental clarity
listening to all my bullshit and giving me advice that only a black woman living in a white woman's body could lay down
telling me i'm prettier and meaning every word of it
saying things like "her hair looks like a weave" and not thinking twice cause she knows it will make me smile

as you can tell a true friend in ever sense of the word

she's smart, beautiful, witty, hilarious, dependable, honest, hardworking, dedicated and more fun than almost anyone else i know...

i'm not even doing her justice here but you'd have to be lucky enough to know her to know exactly how amazing she is

<3