Kelsey Forster: Coolest Girl I Know

Today is St. Patrick's Day, but more importantly, it is the birthday of my very best friend, Miss Kelsey Forster. Kelsey and I have been best friends since the first grade. Well, we are now in the sixteenth grade, so fifteen years, and going strong! We are going out tonight, so a few minutes ago I wrote her this poem:

Happy Birthday Kelsey,

You've always been a friend to me,

And so tonight beside the sea,

We'll drink together happily,

And if holding your hair is a job to be,

I hope that lucky bitch is me.

Masterful as it is, that is not all I have to say about Kelsey. She is the best kind of friend, and I'm so lucky to have her. And so, in honor of Kelsey and all her glorious Kelsiness: I am using today's blog as a forum for delightful Kelsey anecdotes. Anyone who knows her is welcome to add Kelsey-filled comments to this Kelsey tribute.

Without further ado, a Becky-Kelsey Tale:

Every Friday the 13th, Kelsey and I watch scary movies. It started around age nine when we stumbled across the movie Killer Klowns From Outerspace on television, and both thought ourselves way too cool not to watch it. The only problem was, of course, Kelsey really was too cool not to watch it, where as I was completely terrified. I had nightmares about alien clowns from then, way into my teen years.

In any case, we got through it and so a tradition was born. Every year, we'd get a little older, and the movies would get a little scarier. Kelsey the stoic, and I the huge wuss. One year she casually fell asleep during the climax of What Lies Beneath! So calm cool and collected. Kelsey was off dreaming of sunshine and puppies, while I was forced to sit alone, looking through my hands at Han Solo doing terrible things. Again it was confirmed that Kelsey is simply way cooler than me.

And so it went for years, until we were eighteen. Coincidentally, this was the first year I decided to bring a date (just in case Kelsey tried any of that sleeping funny business) and he was pretty into the idea of a scary movie. Our selection was Jeepers Creepers. Jeepers Creepers!!! Who the heck made that movie?? Barely ten minutes in, I hit pause. I thought I could pretend I was being coy, maybe make a hilarious joke at the expense of one of the characters on screen… they saw right through me. And yet, miraculously, Kelsey was not bothered, she too looked very shaken, and for the first time I realized that she was scared too!

We watched the rest of the film with the remote sitting between us so either of us could hit pause when necessary and we could let our suspense-endurance bar reload. Since then, I believe the scariest movie we've sat through was Young Frankenstein, and so the tradition continues.

Happy St Patrick's Day and St Kelsey Day!