Slapshot fatlip

Dear Kristie,

Man it has been years. I keep meaning to get out to one of your fights or atleast touch base with you but I think I am suffering from acute social retardation. I know you are a freakishly busy lady as well so that doesn’t help. I am sure it will happen at some point, just a matter of when.

I can’t remember exactly when I first met you, but I am willing to bet it was shooting hockey pucks on the street. The first thing I though was “is that a girl out there shooting?!” the second thought was “holy shit, that broad can skate!”. I was always a fairly terrible skater and puck handler, like Frankenstein on wheels. But I remember playing around with you pretty much forced me to be better. I also recall living vicariously through your hockey play exploits as there was no way I could play given my lack of experience in the game. I remember us working on your wrist and slap shot, not to mention shooting hoops, chopping wood, tossing a baseball around, pretty much any kind of sport like activity. It was a pretty good time from what I can recall.

I think I pretty much lost track of you in highschool. We moved, and then I started to go to central a lot. Then I graduated and ran from Parchment like it was on fire. BUT, I did follow you from afar. Even though the internet was just really getting wide acceptance I remember one of my first searches in google (after I gave up on altavista) was for “Kristie Tafil + Hockey”. I think you were playing in Minnesota, and I remember being surprise that you weren’t playing for the men’s team. The way you used to make those kids fall over at the Annex made me fairly certain there was no way you weren’t going to do the same to them at the higher levels. But well, sexism being what it is, I kinda knew that it was unlikely. Frankly, I think it was kind of unfair to the other ladies you were playing with. If you could push a guy my size on his ass that easily, one shutters to think what would happen to a 5’ 120lb lady. I talked a lot about hockey and sports because I cannot think of them without you being part of that thought.

I know it probably all sounds corny, but after talking to you recently I had a pretty big sense of pride in you. After all the shit you have been through, and all the millions of hurdles in your way, you have become quite an admirable person, though I think I never doubted that would happen. It seemed very fitting to me that you now work for KPS, and I remember when I was heading through parchment one day, and I was certain I saw you in a squad car, my first though was that it probably wasn’t you. But then, I though OFCOURSE it was you!

We have chatted a little on here, but I assume unlike me, your live is busy doing more meaningful things than hanging out on fb. In either case I am going to send you my email address, and badger you for yours. One way or another we will get together and play the remember when game, and you can fill me in on all the cool shit you have done over the years.

Today was a great day, but tomorrow our FBfriendship will end,

Curt