Revised Diagnostic essay

In April of 2002 I went on a trip from Orange County, Ca to New Orleans with my college roommate. I had to go to a funeral and she was nice enough to accompany me on the drive. We packed up my dodge neon and left town early in the morning. In order to fully appreciate this trip, you have to understand the two personalities in the car. I was 20 years old at the time, and anxiously awaiting my 21st birthday the following week. I was a budding competitive surfer, a fitness model, a Top 40 music addict, and all around party girl from South Florida. My roommate, Jen, was 22 and from a small town called Walla Walla, Wa. She grew up riding horses, listening to country music, fixing trucks (cars were not able to handle the roads in Walla Walla), and chewing tobacco. I had never met a girl who constantly had a dip in her mouth, so I was slightly intrigued by Jen, as I think she was by me. We were total opposites but some how became very good friends. I think it was our shared love of Perfect Strangers reruns to brought us together.

It was somewhere around the Arizona border that the air conditioning gave out. The temperature was 98 degrees by noon, which also happens to be the name of my favorite boy band at the time. Jen was nice enough to let me have control of the CD player most of the time, and now that we had to drive with all the windows rolled down (and I mean literally rolled down, no power locks, windows, or steering in this car), I got to blast all my favorite mixed CD's I had. I knew Jen wasn't thrilled when my Destiny's Child / En Vogue mix came out of the CD case, but she was a good sport. 

We stayed over night at a motel called The Daniel Boone Inn somewhere in Arizona and had a dinner at a nearby diner. At dinner, we met some local Mexican Indians who taught us about there culture and some of the beliefs that involve the powers that the earth has over our situations. For example, they believe that trees hold the secrets of the past and people with a special gift are able to listen to what the trees are trying to say. Also, they believed that the lavender plant brings good luck to people who carry it with them. It all sounded good to us, and it was very interesting to learn how their culture lived. They also prayed a special prayer for the funeral we were going to that would help my deceased grandfather find his way to Heaven. I appreciated their generosity. 

We left Arizona and were driving through New Mexico when Jen screamed at me to stop the car. I was very startled by her outburst and slammed the brakes and puled off to the side of the highway. I have never seen Jen run as fast as she did into a field. I yelled at her and tried to find out what she was doing but she didn't reply, she just kept running. Soon, I saw her grabbing at some leaves and trying to pull them out of the ground, but she kept falling on her ass in the process. The loss of balance was most likely due to the deal we made that 1 person would drive for 8 hours a day, and the other person would drink for 8 hours a day. But eventually she regained her balance, pulled the plant up and came back to the car with a large stalk of fresh lavender. I still have a piece of that plant in a frame, just as a reminder of what a great friend she still is. The picture above is one of me and Jen, the blonde girl, and our other roommate Sandra.