Melissa Banda

May your beautiful soul Rest In Peace - all our love, Joanna R, Joanna S, Jackie, Leslie.

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To my dearest Mélissa

To my dearest friend

When I met Melissa for the first time, I was desperately looking for a decent toilet on Le Mirail campus that did not just have a hole in the floor (like those squat toilet). I just remember that I bumped into her, we laughed a lot, talked in four different languages at the same time and then we were friends. It seemed to be that simple to become friends with Melissa; the only prerequisite one needed was to meet her. She was the kind of person you could “steal horses with” as the German expression goes. (If there were any horses living in Toulouse, rest assured we would have stolen them.) We didn’t only party excessively and laugh until our bellies hurt but we also met up after classes to sit in cafes, to write bucket lists and feel very French. Usually she texted me about 5 minutes before our date to let me know that she was late (she was really good with respecting the local rules about the ”quart d’heure toulousain”) and funny enough we always ended up being both equally late and met up at the same time. Melissa was the person I could call in the middle of the night after a bad date and she would invite me over. (In the middle of the night! I don’t think I know many people who would do that for another person.) Then I moved away, life happened, and we haven’t had any contact for the past seven years. But I know that this was one of those rare friendships where you continue where you left it off. 'Melissa, meine Schnitte, now I am telling you as you once told me: "I will always keep talking about you, so you are still with me even if we don’t talk in like forever. " Tu resteras a jamais dans mon cœur. I am forever grateful that we were friends. When I think about you I can hear your roaring laughter.' I am sending all my love to family and friends and whoever was touched by her buoyant joie de vivre. Babsi