🔼 Michelle (left), Mag (right), pat (rear) at phish’s 2003 it festival.

MeeShell

As I was on the bus to six flags on Monday I received a link from my best friend that shook me. It was the obituary of a girl that I went to high school with, and hung with quite a bit in those formative years. I hadn't spoken to her much in the 18 years since i graduated in 2004 but the news still made me sad.

Michelle died suddenly on October 26th, according to the obituary. Forgive me for my speculation, but it isn't my first day in the generation of an unprecedented opioid epidemic. “Died suddenly” equals fentanyl to me, an overdose, that big sleep, that respiratory failure.… when the drug does what it does best. I’ll stop my speculation now.

She was a very authentic person, who, I think didn’t even know how to be anything else. She was very attractive, and there were a lot of pissy, insecure and jealous girls who wanted to take swipes at her for stealing their man. In high school she had this Volkswagen Jetta from the 80’s that had either a big hole in the muffler, or no muffler at all. Michelle was the Robin to my one of my dearest friend Maggie’s Batman, with a side of my other best freind Patrick in the back seat. Inseparably cruising around our hometown getting all kinds of stoned. Pat isn’t going to like my appraisal of who he was in 2003–2004, but I'll give him the email to the evr0ck…