The other day, I celebrated my two year anniversary at work.  As I reflected upon this, my friend Lisa at work recognized that I have also been her cube neighbor for two years.  You see Lisa had the misfortune of starting the same day that I did and we were placed in side-by-side cubes.  For two years, she has suffered through my daily squirreliness, completely random stories, and antics with the patience of Job.  Impressive.  Very impressive.

Just as I was filling out the Employee Relation’s paperwork to recommend Lisa for Hazard Pay, I got to thinking, cubes are kind of the workplace equivalent to lockers in High School and in that respect there is only one all-time champion for Dave Neighborly Endurance, my friend Nichelle.  You see Nichelle had the misfortune of having a last name next to mine in alphabetical order.  Payne Paulsen.  Paulsen Payne.  No matter which way you sort it, side-by-side.  Alphabetical destiny.  High School locker neighborship was in our stars.

So Nichelle arrived at her locker the first day of Tenth Grade and found this…

I know!  Handsome, right?  Sure all that and extra squirrely, too.  Good Lord, I was extra amped up squirrely.  Plus, from what I had in my locker, I was no peach of a neighbor.  In fact, I was probably a health code violation and that’s just the stuff I remember.

Well, fortunately for Nichelle, she had a provision in her contract that gave her summers away from me.  Any who, she returned her Junior year and found this…

Yep, she had grown more beautiful and I had fully transformed into a ventriloquist’s dummy.  Needless to say, Nichelle needed extreme fortitude of the soul to make it to her Senior year,  In fact, by the time we separated for the summer, we referred to each other as “twin.” The yearbook editors however saw something more…

What?  This is how rumors get started.  Sure we were both irresistible.  We were still however completely platonic.  She probably remembered what I looked like the previous two years.  Damn!

We even spent the basketball season together on the Spirit Squad.  Yes, seven or eight locker visits a day and she still tolerated Friday nights with me.  There’s a special place in Heaven for people like that.  So on the Spirit Squad, I was great at yelling cheers, but a horrible dancer.  Still Nichelle forgave me.

Not only did she forgive me, but I graduated with my dear “twin” by my side.  Payne Paulsen.  Paulsen Payne.  Just the way it should be.

Postscript – Not only did my friend Nichelle manage three entire years with my hyped up teen self by her side, to this day she still responds to my cyber banter with the joy and beauty that has always lite her soul.  My dear twin Nichelle, you were a Hall of Famer from the day I met you to thirty plus years since.  Thank you for being you.  I am blessed to forever call you friend.