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.

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.

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!

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.

How Friends and Family Can Post Here

I've okay'd a list of people from Kristina's The Lloyd Newsletter mailing list to post to this blog. All you need is a Blogger/Google account. If you aren't able to post, let me know through the comments or email me and I'll add you to the list. If the whole process is overwhelming, let me know and I can post for you, no problem.

I've also created a slideshow with pictures of Kristina on my One Drive account. I'll be giving her friends permissions to add photos. If you need permissions or would just like me to post the images and captions for you just let me know. (FYI... captions are harder to see or non-existent on mobile devices.) View Kristina's Slide Show... (click on a picture to start slideshow and see captions)

- Mark