The birthday of a dear friend


Today Andrea Bridges would have been 35.

She is 19 days older than me and I think she always used to feel just a bit superior to me because of that.

I remember the the year we turned 16 very well because she was lucky enough to have gotten an Audi Coupe for her birthday. With red leather seats and a tape player, it was a lot of car and a lot of speed for a teenager. We spent many nights together driving around Auburn, listening to music full blast and getting her older sister to buy us beer. There was one night when we were out with a car full of friends and Andrea got the Coupe, renamed the Satellite, past 100 m.p.h. on Shug Jordan Drive. Andrea loved that car and since I didn't have one and would never have anything half as nice as that Audi, I loved it too. It was bad ass freedom. The car lasted until our first year of college at Montevallo then met a mysterious fate. It was followed by an equally excellent vintage Jeep Grand Wagoneer that took us on many road trips up to the Warrior River in Birmingham, where her grandmother had a cabin. No cars belonging to friends have ever been as legendary as hers.

Andrea died almost four years ago while she was driving, an irony realized by everyone that knew her and loved her. She was hit head on and her death was so instantaneous that she probably didn't realize what even happened. Those details used to be too painful for me to even talk about, now they feel like the last chapter of one of the best stories of my life -- my friendship with her . . . at least for now.


Happy Birthday girlfriend!





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