Green chilies. That’s what Melissa Campbell and I finally bonded over. People had been telling us since seventh grade that we should hang out. We were both farmers’ daughters with dirt in our veins.
But I saw Melissa as more of a frenemy. We went to rival high schools and competed every year at the Pinal County Fair. I’d watch her lead her pigs around the ring and wonder, “How do I beat her?”
We went to rival colleges too. Then one winter break, we went out to dinner with mutual friends. My burger arrived heaped with green chilies. “I put these on everything,” I said, eating one off the top. “Even ice cream!”
“Me too!” Melissa exclaimed. We talked over dinner and discovered we had tons in common. When my boyfriend and I broke up, a few months later, Melissa drove two hours and spent a whole weekend cheering me up.
After college, Melissa moved home, started a family and got a job as a cotton gin manager. I went to graduate school in Texas and didn’t know where life would take me. Melissa prayed for me and sent me job leads and photos of the farmland I loved. Just like when we were kids, she had me beat.
So I got a job in marketing at a fertilizer company right in Pinal County. I work with people I’ve known all my life and my best friend’s close by, ready for our next green chili adventure.
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