I completely lost track of Lucie after graduation, which is a shame, because she was a really neat person. And a blast to be around. Once, she shaved her head because she’d always wondered what it would be like. Just because she was curious. You have to be pretty damn brave to shave your head. And interestingly enough, it worked on her. She looked cute. Another time, to make a point about how all you need to stay warm is a hat, she took off her coat and sweater and went charging up a hill on the side of the road in just her bra and a hat. She would get excited about something, and that was it – you’d get swept up in her enthusiasm. And Lucie was a woman of action.

So one night, we’d given somebody a ride somewhere and were coming home when Lucie spotted this enormous cow planter on the side of the road. I have no idea to this day if it was in someone’s front yard, of if it was a business, or what the deal was, but once she had seen it, nothing would do until she had that cow for her very own. So she made me turn around – and we were on some sort of divided road, so I had to turn around twice – I remember that much. And then we screeched to a halt, proceeded to speed-load this huge wooden painted cow planter into my little Honda Civic hatchback, smashing a tail light in the process, and took off with our ill-gotten cow for the dorm. I was on a great hall that year, a little wing off the back of the dorm with only six singles and a suite and we were all great pals. There was a little open area we had turned into a lounge, and the cow moved in and became our mascot. Everyone thought it was hysterical, although I think they were a little surprised that I went along with such a daring escapade.

Now that I’m older, of course, I realize that a) that thing probably cost a fortune and b) it wasn’t very nice to steal it. But at the time, it was quite the adventure.

The photographic evidence: me, Lucie and the cow