Yshaddel Perez with five D’s, a Y and an L. This girl has my heart. I wish I could’ve recorded every conversation we ever had as we walked home from school. We had a lot of very interesting conversations. That was back when I lived in her backyard in house number 2. It sucked when we moved from the house on E Fort Lee RD, to the cramp little two family house on Linden. Most people didn’t even know that my street existed. What made it better was that Yshaddel lived right next door. I literally had to walk up her backyard to get to her house. For some reason when we get together our conversations take a turn towards looney. We instantly knew when one of us had to use the bathroom because for some reason the pace of our walking would slow down instead of quicken. There was also the mention of our mini-cooper road trip, after her stepfather came home with a blue mini-copper. Then there was super buddy. So as we would walk home from school everyday my ”Shaddy Time” would be disrupted my some boy calling her cell phone. The first two times it happened I let it go but by the third time I had to say something. “ Umm yeah super buddy? You have to stop calling right after school. It’s my time you can call back later. Bye.” That was the first time I ever talked to Joel. Unfortunately it wasn’t the last. As Joel and Yshaddel’s relationship became more and more exclusive, the more calls she would get and the more fighting I would have to do. I remember the first time I met Joel. Yshaddel was pretty nervous because we were all going to go hang out around Dairy Queen and I guess she wasn’t sure how we would react to him. Joel is a medium height man, a bit older than Shaddy, with a huge grin that only becomes larger around Yshaddel and he likes to wear a lot of sweaters over button-up’s. That day I had work so there wasn’t much time to make a clear opinion. If Shaddy liked him, than I liked him. And boy did Shaddy like him! I never really bought into her denying it before I always sensed that she had really deep feelings for him but that was proven in time and I didn’t need to point it out. Anyway Yshaddel has a little brother named Daniel. Danielito is a big ball of energy. Not only does he run around everywhere he makes the cutest faces when he’s angry. The boys at Yshaddel’s church encourage his behavior and even teach him little quirks only boys can admire. He’s a handful for sure but Shaddy deals with him all the time and she never loses her cool. That’s the thing about Yshaddel- when she’s upset she doesn’t publicize it. She doesn’t want anyone’s sympathy, she just wants to correct the problem and move on. I admire her for that. Yshaddel is another one of my smart friends, although her modesty makes her quick to deny it, she’s smart. I usually enjoy a good giggle at her expense when her and Rebecca are mulling over math worksheets that need to be done in less than 45 mins. Yshaddel is going to Montclair next year. I mind this of course because I’m greedy and I want all my friends for myself but at least most of them are going to be in the same place so I save on gas money. Seriously I’ve never met anyone who is as beautiful inside as they are outside. Yshaddel is one of my best and dearest friends. She’s always been there for me when I needed her and she always had something cute to say to make me smile. I forget what she’s studying next year only because she changed her mind a couple times. She wanted to do child psychology for a while but then moved on to teaching. I’m not exactly sure what the final decision was. I wonder if she’s laughing at my ignorance right now? Sorry Shaddy I’m just drawing a blank here. And Shaddy is my Shamala and I'm her Barney and I love her very much. It’s going to be more than painful not seeing her everyday. The summer is not going to last me enough time to get ready for it. I miss her already but hopefully we’ll be able to stay in touch and be friends for a very long time. There will never be another Atchadel in my life and Yshaddel knows very well that she has my heart.