Tuesday, May 3, 2016

From the Time of Flying Cockroaches


Kristina and I met in Los Angeles at the time of the internet boom. We worked in a cramped office in Beverly Hills, where after 5 pm cockroaches flew by you like bombers. One of the first times we spoke was because I was dodging a mammoth flying cockroach. She laughed at my horror.  Ducking under the flying cockroaches, we became friends quickly. 

LA was a different world, and it was refreshing to have a friend like Kristina- honest, smart and witty. She seemed as though she knew who she was and stuck to it. A rare quality in any state and time, but in LA in our 20s, it was just plain unique.  I even know the moment it hit me. She was telling me about herself, with plain honestly and no drama. I looked for the fakeness, but it wasn’t there. As time went on, when she smiled or said something complimentary, you knew she believed it, as she wouldn’t say it if not. And when her sarcastic humor started going, then the fun would begin! While in LA, Kristina had a diverse group of friends, and not too long after we met, this guy Mark that she excitedly chatted about, became a permanent fixture.  

We both left LA and a few years after, she wrote me a letter and sent it to my mother to reconnect. This started a cherished penpal relationship. We shared a love for language and treated our emails like letters. I know that she had some trouble with language at times, as Mark points out in the funny post about the shopping list, but her humor and wit never was hard to find. My letters from Kris always excited me, it was like listening to her chat on for a short while and I felt lucky to have them. Like her conversation, her letters were clever and fun at times, or slightly dark and sarcastic.

Often she would wryly comment on an author, show, or person. This was fun to me, so I would ask her questions to see how she would respond. I leave you with one of these comments. I had asked Kristina which literary giant she would would hang out with- Hemingway or Fitzgerald: She answered directly- “First of all, I absolutely have a choice: Fitzgerald.  No question.  I get tired as hell of Hemingway's crap.”

Ha! That answer is SO Kristina. gave me a good chuckle..

 love, Melissa


Friday, April 29, 2016

the most important person in the room

Kristina has this enviable quality about her. She makes you feel as though, in that very moment, you're the person with whom she wants to be. I don't know if it's her personal intensity or an ever-present joie de vivre. The circumstances don't seem to matter. Whether it's a passing greeting at work, a dinner with a group of people, the tail spot of a miserably long line, or a one-on-one conversation on a plane (where she's stuck with you for hours), Kristina makes you feel important. What an amazing ability.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Fashion Unit!

Marsha Dyer (middle) sent me this Charlie's Angelsesque picture from Halloween at the National Federation of the blind where she and Kristina worked. She commented that Kristina was the only one not looking into the camera. I reminded Marsha that Kristina was a professional actress who earned her Screen Actors Guild card in Hollywood. I wouldn't have expected anything less!


Food House Word Lines

Because Kristina could no longer drive, I would frequently stop by the grocery store after work or after going to the gym. She would then text me a photo of the shopping list that was on the fridge. But because of some of her writing and language challenges many things on her lists needed to be deciphered. "White Mexican Liquid" was, of course, sour cream. And "Crunchy Milk Biskuts" was cereal. And, in the picture below, "Grequacraza + more daza" was guacamole plus more salsa... but she was pretty close to the sour cream that time! At first she was frustrated with not being able to get the words right, but I found her little work arounds so adorable that we ended up looking forward to The Shopping List game and would crack up when I got home and described my hilariously challenging shopping adventures.


Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Vomit Queen! Vomit Queen!

One of Kristina's greatest Kung Fu skills was coming up with ridiculous songs off the top of her head usually set to some familiar tune. Years ago we'd wake up on Saturday mornings drink some coffee and watch this anime adventure show called Shaman King. After a rash of drive by barfings from Kitty she dramatically appropriated the opening theme to the show...


Vomit Queen
by Kristina Wadia

Look beyond you look around
See if you can spot a pile that is brown
When kitties are not well they leave a surprise
They lurch and hurl before your very eyes

So many things you never should eat
So many choices other than meat
It could be your destiny,
To be Vomit Queen...
Vomit Queen! Vomit Queen!
When your stomach's not strong,
You can be the one!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Kristina and I always joked about my love of costumes (and Halloween). After I had kids, my love of costuming grew exponentially, and my kids were often dressed and photographed in some pretty outlandish costumes. At some point during her chemo treatment, Kristina joked that she might start making extraordinarily detailed costume requests, and that I'd be obliged to comply because, well--chemo. I don't think she thought I'd take her seriously, but I went for it. The picture below is from our first set of "Miss Kristina" pictures. Beginning with Valentine's Day (and for every month thereafter) we created crazy costumes and props and turned our upstairs loft into a studio. Every month we tried to do something crazier than the last. Every time Kristina thought she could stump me with a request--like a donkey for Cinco deMayo--we found a way to make it happen. What started out as a joke between friends resulted in an amazing treasure. Thanks to Kristina, I now have a year's worth of beautiful, hilarious pictures of my kids. These pictures hang in my home, on my mother's walls, and sit in frames on my in-law's mantle. They have brought so much happiness to so many people. I don't think I would have done this for anyone else, but for Kristina it was totally worth it. This was such a small part of my friendship with K, but I'm so grateful for it. Looking back, I realize whole thing is even more beautiful because it was so "her." She let me think I was doing this all for her, while the whole time she was the one giving the gift. Her friendship is gift enough, but this collection is an absolute treasure. Thanks, K. I'll be forever in your debt.


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Thanks, Liz!
Edit by Mark: Looks like the image link was broken, so I added one of my favorites!

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Edit by Mark: For a look at a couple more photos check out Kriss' blog post from 2012!

Kristina's "Bun Blitz 2009"

At some point Kristina got it in her head that she wanted a bunny in addition to our three cats. So she set out on an email marketing campaign with me as her target consumer and brought her friend Marsha into the loop. I'm sure Kriss was snorting with laughter all day. Below is the ninth email of the day...

(Thanks for forwarding this Marsha!)

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From: Wadia, Kristina
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 2:05 PM
To: Dyer, Marsha
Subject: FW: item nine

Just for your entertainment, I’m going to forward you some of my “Bun Blitz” from yesterday.  (we call bunnies “buns”)  I “bun-barded” Mark with these at thirty minute installments all day.  I’m just going to send you a few.  Item nine might be my favorite.  You have to admit, they are awfully dang cute.

From: Wadia, Kristina
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 3:55 PM
To: 'Wadia, Mark S.'
Subject: item nine

How adorable would we be, standing there in the morning in our little nightgown, drinking our coffee, watching you zip up your wetsuit?


From: Wadia, Kristina
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 3:40 PM
To: 'Wadia, Mark S.'
Subject: item eight


Buns like football.  I will make my bun a Chargers sweater.