I met Kendall my freshman year of high school. I don’t remember the details – I just know that it was an instant connection. We were soul friends. It’s like we had been waiting to come into each other’s lives and complete each other’s stories. Almost instantly we were sharing everything from laughs to secrets, memories to clothes. We also shared a love for school cafeteria chicken sandwiches with at least 5 packets of ketchup, laffy taffy, and fast break bars. But my favorite thing we shared was the nickname we came up with for our friendship - Gegdall Phaghette. Gegdall is a combination of our last names (pronounced Geg-dale) and Phaghette is a word we made up to symbolize the love we had for each other (I guess? I'm not entirely sure of the logic, but I'm sure she would have remembered.)
We took a Creative Writing class together in high school. I found some of our creations last night and couldn't help but laugh at how random (and weird!) we were. But that's how our friendship was. She was a person I could be crazy with and not have to worry about impressing - which is pretty rare in the High School world. She was like that with most people. She had the ability to make someone feel like the most valued person on the planet. So this is my ode to her and the memories we shared.
Kendall and I were in Show Choir together. That's where most of our shenanigans happened. A series of unfortunate events led me to one of my favorite Kendall memories. 1) I fell off a riser at one of our last show choir performances. I was smiling and waving to the crowd after we had taken our bows and I didn't realize that the platform had ended. I walked right off and landed on my face. Of course, Kendall was there to laugh at me and pick me back up. 2) One of our costumes was just a pair of stretchy black pants and a plain black shirt. For some reason during one of the songs they put me in the front row. Part of the choreography was to crouch down and turn around. In the process, my pants slid down and revealed my bright orange underwear to the entire audience! I still haven't lived that one down. 3) During a final dress rehearsal we were practicing the lifts. While I was in the air I had a major wardrobe malfunction and revealed my entire top half!!! Because of these three things, Kendall helped come up with my superlative at the end of the year and presented me with the "Tripper Stripper" award. Instead of a trophy, I received a one-legged topless Barbie, which I still have in my possession! She loved to tell that story.
Every day at lunch we would walk down to the Cubbie Hole (or whatever that place is called) and get Laffy Taffy. We had a notebook that we passed back and forth, taking turns writing notes to each other. And every day we would write down the Laffy Taffy jokes from the wrapper. When the jokes were duplicated, we would put a tally mark next to it in the book. I have searched my house high and low for this book in the past few days, but it is missing. I would give anything to find it and laugh at ourselves again. She would have appreciated that.
After 9/11 we wanted to make a statement on the anniversary of the event, so we got creative. We made matching shirts - one said reme, the other said mber - but we had to be standing next to each other for them to make sense. Remember. We also got yellow boxers with airplanes on them to wear outside of our pants, but that didn't go over too well. We both got in trouble before 1st block! I can't find the tshirt or pictures to commemorate this event, but I will always remember. She was my other half.
At some point during our friendship I got tickets to see the Rascal Flatts at the Kentucky State Fair which included passes to Kentucky Kingdom. Kendall was my friend of choice and we had a blast riding roller coasters and singing along to our favorite Rascal Flatts songs. We even participated in a Karaoke sing-off! If my memory serves me right, I think we made it to the second round!
We kind of lost touch after I went off to college and she got married. But we reconnected when I moved back to Madison. We definitely weren't as close, but we still hung out on occasion. I remember taking her shopping with me to get stuff for my wedding. The trip was full of wedding/marriage advice and how to have a happy marriage.
There are far too many memories for me to list them all here. And I am sure many more will flood back to me in the days to come. But for now, as I remember my dear friend, it is with a smile and a tear. Her life was beautiful but it ended too soon. It’s hard to believe that the world is still spinning madly on without her in it. I know we weren't as close towards the end of her life, and part of me feels guilty for that. We just grew apart. I am comforted by a quote that I found, and this is how I will end my ode to Amanda Kendall Vest:
“Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that.”
