Jocie’s Tribute
Maya was my best friend and meeting her was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and it’s beautiful to see how many others share this exact sentiment. Maya was special. She brought so much love into every one of her friendships. Every single person whom I’ve met because of her has had their life meaningfully improved just from knowing Maya. I want to extend my gratitude and love to Maya’s incredible family and wonderful friends from Holton and WashU, who have all taken me in as one of their own during the worst time. I can see why Maya loved you all so much.
I thought Maya was the coolest girl in the world. Saying we were “coworker friends” doesn’t really do justice to the intense connection we shared, but that is how we met. We were both sales associates at American Plant in the spring of 2021 — a time when covid had forced us both to retreat from social life for a while. Within seconds of meeting her I could see she was effortlessly energetic and laugh-out-loud hilarious, and I knew I needed to be friends with her.
She took a chance on me and we got dinner one day after work. We clicked so quickly and couldn’t stop talking. Dinners after work turned into pool days, pool days turned into nights out together, and nights out together turned into just staying in to share ice cream and be with each other. Our shifts together were the highlight of my boring weeks, until they stopped scheduling us together because we wouldn’t do anything except goof off together (don’t worry, Maya was a far more disciplined employee than I was!)
Thank God it wasn’t a one-off summer coworker friendship. Our spontaneous get-togethers always resulted in endless laughs and lifelong memories. I would look forward to every break from college just so I could see her. She was there for me in some of my worst moments and we created some of my best memories. I’ll never forget our annual summer Bethany Beach trips, our late night McDonalds adventures, or our hilarious dive-bar karaoke tradition. She was down for anything and taught me to be more open to new experiences. The highlight of my sophomore year was when she came to visit me in Chicago and we explored the city together, and in turn, the highlight of my junior year was when I took the train down to St. Louis and she showed me her stomping grounds. She had a unique ability to turn even the most mundane moment into a memory.
Although I was fortunate enough to go on adventures with her every time I was home from school, the summertime always seemed like “our” time. Freshman year of college, as we were talking about our upcoming summer jobs (both of us languished as waitresses that year), we floated around the idea of a potential New York summer together. The plan was simple enough: we would both get big girl NYC jobs, move in together, and experience what it was like to be in a new city with our best friends all summer long. We decided back then that the summer after junior year of college was the best time, and this past year I was so proud watching her work hard to secure the NYC marketing job of her dreams. The shared dream we held since freshman year was so close to becoming a reality. We had picked out an amazing dorm in an amazing neighborhood to share the summer together. Every day in what she called “the greatest city in the world” I think about her and try to live my summer and my life in a way that would make her proud.
The world has lost all its color and life will never be the same. But my prevailing emotion is gratitude. If it weren’t for Maya, I would not be the person I am today. Her smile and laugh are stuck in my head, and I know that somewhere, we are singing our hearts out and dancing like nobody’s watching forever.
