In 2003 I was blessed to meet my best friend, Noel Williams. She was 24 and I was 21. Our friendships began one day when we were both waiting for our rides home; we took the same van service to and from campus. We would eventually start sharing rides to and from school because we lived so close to each other.

We had the best conversations while we were waiting for our rides. We talked about us. views on life, and the fact that we saw the things that most people would consider setbacks and disability we saw as simply as a different way of living life. We agreed that the word disability should only be applied to a vehicle that was broken down or without Gas, not to people who were alive and breathing. We also spoke about the ways that we wanted to change the world. We wanted to use our voices to make the use of equipment a “normal” part of society. The length of our relationship was only 7/months long. My last memory of my dear friend was the week before Thanksgiving break. We shared a ride home that day, and on the way to Noel’s house, I asked her what she was doing for the holiday. She shared with me that she was going to be visiting Indiana with her family and that. She would be back on December 5th.

My first day back to school, which also was the day of my theatre final. I was nervous but I was ready. I had to perform a monologue in which I was a mother of an ungrateful kid. My instructor asked me to dig deep and show emotion.

When I got to school that morning, there was a woman named Francine waiting for me where I was going to be dropped off. She said, “Excuse me, are you a friend of Noel Williams? Yes, I said. Did she come back from her vacation yet? I need to tell you that she passed away two days ago.’ I was in shock when she told me the news. I went to class and did my scene and cried my eyes out.

I’ll always be grateful to my friend and what she taught me.