Brandi and Mary ... the biker grandmas. (a memory from Mary)

I met Brandi shortly after I had moved to Seattle. I had very few friends, was getting over a recent heartbreak, and was in need of a good friend. Brandi and Katie came to Hours Eyes on Broadway, where I worked as an Optician. Brandi needed new glasses and so we worked together for quite a little while; chatting while we tried different styles. I remember she was quite particular about not only the appearance, but also the strength of the temples (the arms of the glasses). She explained that she rode a motorcycle and would repeatedly be putting pressure on the glasses. As soon as I shared the fact that I had a motorcycle as well, and understood her concern, we were instant buddies. We set up a day and time to have our very first (with many more to come) bike rides together.

Brandi and I were not the typical biker chicks- we called ourselves "grandmas" because we were uncharacteristically careful while we rode. Some of our friends enjoyed the risk of being on 2 wheels-and we did share the desire to be rebels-but we more appreciated the "oneness" of being on the open road without the visual limitations of a car. You don't realize how much you miss in the confines of a car until you sit in a saddle of a motorcycle. I am hoping that pictures of us with Dykes on Bikes at Seattle gay pride will surface in some of my boxes. Such great memories.

Over the years, our lives took us different places. I remember when Brandi left Seattle and how empty I felt when she had gone. Seattle wasn't the same without her and I left shortly after as well. She was in Portland, Maine and I was in Lewes, Delaware but we still managed to see each other quite regularly, whether it was me driving up to Portland, or her flying to see me in Delaware, or meeting in the Big Apple for some play time. We saw each other more than I saw my own family, and I'm even pretty close with my family. Brandi visited me in each and every apartment that I lived in since she knew me, and I can't even say that for my family. She was my family.

I know all of us wish we had the chance to say good-bye. I am struggling with this because we had not spoken in nearly 2 years. We would reconnect someday, but now it is too late for this lifetime. I pictured us as little old ladies on the porch of some old house, enjoying our memories together over lemonade, or maybe Bushmills. You will always be in my heart, Brandi, and you never left.