Why, Delilah.

Forgive me, Delilah, I just couldn't take anymore. I heard your song and now I miss Kashka to pieces.

Lo, we were walking through Menards this evening and who should start howling over the speakers but Tom Jones. And I couldn't mistake the song. And I was immediately back in our little corner dorm room with Kashka, singing like fools at the top of our lungs.

Kashka once wrote about me and I think it's time to return the compliment. You see, Kashka is my hero and this is long overdue.

Kashka introduced me to Tom Jones. She looked at me like a rube when I wondered if she liked Meat Loaf. Or if I could hang up my "All I really need to know I learned from Star Trek" poster. Everything I would have been ridiculed for in my school, Kashka was cool with. And that was day 1.

One day I came home from the library in the middle of winter, in a very bad mood, only to find Kashka sitting in shorts and a T-shirt, reading a book for class, and holding a fruity drink. "Luau! The heater is stuck on!"

Occasionally, Kashka would come in from breakfast and wake me up, very concerned that she had shut off the alarm, and let me know I had 5 minutes to get to class.

Kashka and I had an understanding - neither of us spoke until after the first round of classes. This worked well for the entire time we lived together.

I don't even know what else to say. Living with Kashka was like living with the best part of myself. We were simpatico in ways I can't explain and never expected. She could always make me laugh. She's smarter than I could ever hope to be. She likes way better and way worse music than me.

So that's why, Delilah, I'm just sick over Kashka's incommunicado status. I have grown used to regular doses of Kashka in my life, and I don't like giving it up.