Truth be told, there were many instances in the past where it seemed Susan Tafini and I didn’t like each other all that well. She was the best friend of my wife Lisa, so there was always that friction where I might be jealous of Lisa spending too much time with Susan; and Susan probably thought some of my antics were too much for Lisa to put up with. But we were still forced to spend quite a bit of time together since we had the common link of Lisa.
Susan was Lisa’s maid of honor in our wedding and she even went on vacation to Myrtle Beach with us in 1996. Once, we actually took a rare moment to pose for the picture above during our New Years 1999 party. Yes, I guess you could say that those petty annoyances that would occasionally get in the way of us being really good friends didn’t take away from the fact that I thought Susan was a really nice person.
That’s why I thought it would be fun to meet up with her during my planned trip to Chicago this past weekend - so I contacted her by email. Although a little bit shocked to hear from me after about seven years, Susan (at left, talking to Lisa) agreed to meet with me after I assured her that most of my mischievous-behaviour days were behind me (sort-of). In fact, she went even one better and generously invited me to use her apartment as home base during my weekend in Chicago. That was completely unexpected and appreciated, but what really surprised me was how much fun it was to hang out with her after all these years.
Although swamped with homework as she is in the midst of working toward her masters degree to become a nurse practitioner, Susan tried her utmost to make time to take me out and show me around the city…and make sure I didn’t get lost. I was very impressed with the woman that Susan has become. Very intelligent, fun, and constantly working to advance and educate herself. We had many lively discussions over wine and sushi about relationships, school, politics, and life in the big city. Susan’s already lived a very full life, living in many different locations in the U.S. and even abroad, among them Columbus, Las Vegas, San Diego, Newport Beach, North Carolina, Italy, and now Chicago.
But here’s my favorite story that marvelously encapsulates Susan’s personality: We hailed a cab to take us to the Sushi restaurant and immediately Susan found that the previous passenger had left her wallet in the back of the taxi. Concerned for the girl, she began frantically searching for the girl’s phone number, even going so far as to call the numbers on the girl’s gym membership and Blockbuster video cards. Susan looked at me and said “I feel really bad for this girl because this is something I would do!” Amazingly, she was able to find the girl’s number and left a message for her that she had her wallet. By that time, we had arrived at our destination. We exited the cab and as the next passenger started to enter, she looked at Susan and said “Ma’am, you dropped something.” We looked down, and sitting in the street gutter was Susan’s own wallet. Couldn’t have been any funnier if it had been written into a movie. Susan attributed this to karma.
I really enjoyed this visit and I hope we can keep in touch. I wish her the best and know that she will be very successful in life.
I remember setting up for Lisa’s bridal shower and having a few laughs with Susan. Barb kept calling out ‘Susan’ and we would both turn around. Finally, thinking she had come up with a solution, Barb said that she would use last name initials for us. We both laughed when Barb realized that this wouldn’t work, as Tafini and Tangeman… well, you get the idea.
Susan
April 27th, 2007