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NADIA SEILER
5/30/1978 8/15/2014
It has been one week since my college roommate and dear friend Nadia Seiler passed away.
This week has been confusing and blurry to me as I try to make sense of this tragedy. I
have found myself without words so often. I can describe how I am coping and what I am
doing, but not how I am feeling. I cannot, in any meaningful way, express my deepest
sympathies to those who loved Nadia, however sincerely I feel them.
Though I still cannot express how I feel about her loss, I can share our history. Nadia and I
have been friends since we were 18 years old practically babies. Looking through pictures
reminds me of what a sweet, goofy, affectionate, and quirky woman she was. Our friendship
lasted 18 years she commented recently that we have been friends for half our lives. It
breaks my heart that our friendship has been cut short.
Because I have been having such a hard time finding the words, I am using my pictures
and notes she wrote me to help. This is going to be a long one. It represents 18 years, after
all.
THE CARLETON YEARS
Flower Nadia
Fellow Carls will remember flower Fridays. Since I keep everything,
I found several of the notes that were attached to my flowers from
Nadia.
It appears that at this time, we were planning a trip to El Tequila, a
Mexican restaurant in Faribault. Im surprised we planned it trips
off campus were usually far more spontaneous. And I can never
forget our trip to the snack bar that ended up taking us to dinner
40 minutes north of Northfield, and dessert 20 minutes south.
Good times. I think that was one of the times we were being
indecisive about what we wanted to eat. This became such a
common theme with us that we eventually put a far more positive
spin on it. We referred to ourselves as flexible.
Nadia in the Closet
I am not really sure why she was in the closet here I
seem to remember that we were visiting our friend
Jody in Chicago for the weekend, though I could be
wrong. Its not really a flattering picture, I know, but
I still love the expression on her face.
Fairy Nadia Halloween 1998.
At this time, Nadia, Twila, Lindsay, and I were living in
a quad in Parrish House (the language house). The
four of us living in such a small space with such
different habits led to some craziness, but we also had
some good times. I think we cobbled together our
costumes at the last minute, in the great tradition of
college students.
Fancy Nadia Midwinter Ball 1999.
Looking good, Dia! More good times
from the quad. I think we spent more
time getting ready and taking pictures
before-hand then we did at the ball
itself.
Bakers Square Nadia Wait, they have
pie?
Why yes that is a man and a dog made out
of French toast, I think.
Someone didnt finish their dinner
Roommate Nadia
My three roomies! I have no idea what
the occasion was. I think this might
have been before or after apple picking?
Muppet flower Nadia
I actually remembered this note even before I started
looking through my photo albums. Who could forget
muppet flowers? I was so glad I found this one
Fall term senior year, Nadia was on leave because she
had done a summer term in England. But she
couldnt stay away from Carleton who could, really.
She spent about a month camped out on the couch
in our triple in Sevy.
Flower Nadia (Rueb)
Nadia was my drinking buddy of choice in
college. There was no one better to visit
one of the two bars in town with. Our
choices were the Reub or the Contented
Cow.
Senior Dinner Nadia
We were saying goodbye to Carleton and to each other. Or at
least to the times when we would see each other every day,
and visiting each other only required a short walk (and no
going outside at all). I can see the sadness here behind our
smiles. College was a wonderful time.
And look! Our shoes match! Actually, I think hers were
dark brown and mine were black. Or vice versa.
Bowling Nadia
While this was not an official senior
week event, a group of us went
bowling at some point when there
were no other activities planned.
None of us were exactly experts. I
think the winner had to buy the loser
ice cream.
Nadia and I took a break from
throwing gutter ball after gutter ball
to pose for this.
Senior Cruise Nadia
We had a cruise organized as part of senior
week. Good music, good food, good drinks,
and, of course, good friends.
Dancing Nadia
Nadia and Twila doing The Twila Dance. I cant
adequately describe it with words, though I have a very
clear picture in my mind. I wish there were a video of
this.
I was treated to another viewing of the Twila Dance
(sort of) only a month ago when Nadia, Twila, Michelle,
and I were in Charlottesville celebrating Nadias
bachelorette weekend.
Excellent Nadia
Dinner at Buca di Beppo in
Burnsville. Nadia and the rest of our
friends are mimicking Mr. Burns
from the Simpsons. Excellent.
Post Carleton
First Year Nadia
After we graduated, our Carleton group tried to get together at
least once a year. The first year after we graduated, the group
came to stay at my first apartment in Maryland. I believe it was
this trip when I said to Nadia, completely seriously You dont wear
contacts, do you? She didnt answer, she just looked at me. I
think we both cracked up shortly afterward. In my defense, she
wasnt wearing her glasses at the moment and it was late at night.
Second Year Nadia
Our next reunion took us to Twilas first
apartment in WV. Its possible that we drove
out to Maryland after that. I forget the
details
Tiger Nadia 2003?
I went to visit Nadia and my high
school friend Michelle in New
York. While I was there, we went
to a party thrown by Rachel (yet
another college friend).
Seventh Year Nadia
In 2007, we were back in Minnesota for our reunion. I
think we went to a celebration of Terahs wedding (still
another college friend). And no trip to Minnesota would
be complete without a trip to Carleton.
North Carolina Nadia
After Nadias time in New York and then in Michigan (for
grad school), and my time in Alabama, we miraculously
ended up in the same place again: the metro DC area.
We did not take as much advantage of this as we should
have. But we still managed to get out to Boone, NC to
visit Twila.
Puppy-loving Nadia
I think this picture of Nadia with Andy
(one of Twilas dogs) is one of my
favorites and is so totally Nadia.
I could go on. Its been 4 years since this trip, and we have certainly seen each other since
then. I even have a few more pictures to document those times. But this picture seems
like the right place to stop.
Nadia, I wish we could have done our battlefields and vineyards tour. That we could have
taken more of those trips we talked about. That I could have seen you and Andrew
married. Wherever you are, I hope you are happy and at peace. I love you dearly and will
miss you always.