Portia

I spoke a little bit earlier about one of my best friends, Portia. Apparently, my stalker googled me and found that Portia and I are close and sent Portia a friend invite on Facebook. Portia took one look at the invite, and knew that th skeezer was up to no good and declined it without a second thought. That's only one of the many reasons that she'll always be my homie.

So anyway, to give you a little of a back story on Portia, I met her in the third grade at the Meadows Elementary and we were in Ms. Mack's class together. She also lived in my neighborhood and we often walked home from school together. We hung at eachother's homes and we were really close. We eventually lost touch but briefly reconnected in middle school, but we no longer shared classes or walks home. Again we lost touch. I ran into her again a few years after we graduated high school, but we weren't able to exchange contact info.

About two years ago, I thought back on Portia and decided to look her up. I guess I forgot to also add that Portia is the daughter of the late Fred "Rerun" Berry of the show "What's Happening?" which was how I found her. All I had was her name and her father. Long story short, we linked up on Myspace. I got a bulletin about an online radio show that she had started. I decided that I'd call in. And the rest has been a beautiful history.

Who knew at the time that I was friends with a woman that would eventually go on to do great things in the entertainment industry? She was on the pilot episode of the show "Hole in the Wall" and she's the woman that famously shouted "OH CRAP!" as that huge foam thing ran into her. (I just looked it up and her clip all over YouTube and it's still hilarious!) She's acted in a few small independent roles, starred in a play, done some plus sized modeling, was recently voted to be the Face of E.L.F. cosmetics and she just got back from taping a Safe Auto commecial that's due to start airing in May. She's even in it with Justin Case.

I'm just writing to say how absolutely proud I am of Portia. I've seen her go through shit that would have downed anyone else. She's not a petite woman and believe me, the public is often very callous in letting her know that. But she maintains a smile. Yeah, she's been hurt by some things that were said and done. Some people have even personally emailed her to attack her just because of her weight. I've often begged her to forward me those emails so that I can reply to the sender and make them wish that their father had worn a condom. But Portia, ever the calm (and smart) business woman never sends them to me. Although my offer still stands to threaten the life of anyone that hurts my friend's feelings.

Sometimes I wish I had what Portia had, but I know firsthand that she's worked very hard for her success and I look forward to supporting her in any way possible. Because that's what friends are for.