Courtney Mersereau

I still have the black Patagonia fleece vest she gave me for Christmas in high school. She rocked the uniform way before Steve Jobs made it a thing; why wouldn't you just wear black all the time?

Julie made me feel uniquely special. Maybe it was the fact that she kept a picture of me up in the kitchen for years after Peter and I broke up (in the picture, I was about 3 and my still baby-ish belly protruding proudly out from under my too small top and shorts). She got a kick out of it and with her huge, knowing smile kept asking, "Court, why is your shirt so small?" And I got a kick out of the attention from such a magnetic person. Now that I think back, it was like she was telling me, "You do you; rock those small shirts girl!"

Julie was my mentor and my advocate and more often than she ever knew: my inspiration. She was such an important example of a human being her true self, all the time, something I'm still working toward. I am also partial to dropping frequent F bombs, and with each one, I hope it brings me a little closer to channeling my inner Julie, not giving any fucks and rocking the too small shirt because I want to.