Farewell McKenna
As much as I would love to devote an individual blog post for each character I’ve run into on this island over the past three-ish months––I’d be tasking myself to write about three pieces a day which frankly sounds like a disservice to the blog and my brain. There are however a few people who I personally feel deserve special mention due to their impact on my summer thus far. McKenna being one who falls under that category.
McKenna arrived to Monhegan about three weeks after me in June. This was her third summer on the island and second season working for the Monhegan House, two fun facts that she never let me forget. I was hanging out my laundry on the Novelty deck when I first became acquainted with McKenna. She was introducing herself to the other housekeeper on the grounds below and in a not-so-typical “wait until you’re spoken to before you speak” Helen fashion, I decided to introduce myself right then and there.
“Hi! I’m Helen, the other housekeeper here!” I blurted downward towards the two of them.
McKenna glanced up and with intimidating elevator eyes, looked me over from head to toe. I couldn’t quite tell if she was annoyed or impressed that I had inserted myself into the conversation, but I knew the next words to come from her mouth would be indicative of our relationship moving forward. Would we be coworkers? Friends? Enemies? All three?
“We’re gonna have a gReat summer.” McKenna responded with a devious grin. The r is capitalized because that’s the way she emphasized great in the moment. In fact, that’s the way she pronounces most of her r’s. It’s a cross between a "valley girl"and California surfer accent which is ironic seeing as she hails from Concord, Massachusetts. Just one of the many quirks I’ve come to love about McKenna.
From then on, we became pretty much inseparable around the Monhegan House. It took a few days for her to pry me out to the barn, but once we fell into a rhythm of going out at night and spending our daily breaks together, all fell into place between our friendship. We spent nearly everyday this summer tanning and swimming at Fish Beach and I could count on one hand the amount of evenings we were apart.
I learned several things about McKenna between the moment we met and the moment I jumped off of the dock for her: she’s the first to fall asleep when drunk, she prefers shorts to pants, but if necessary will wear thrifted jeans that don’t cling to her legs. She loves swimming, went to a middle school for dyslexic kids, and is surprisingly good at making friendship bracelets. McKenna has minuscule handwriting, the voice of an angel, and a passion for shrimp tacos from the Fish House. She doesn’t like to be alone unless she’s hiking and insists on having “sips” of everyone else’s cigarettes versus purchasing and smoking her own. She also never judged me for a thing and kept every secret I opted to reveal.
In a way, I was collected by McKenna (which I promise is not my way of saying that I’m a cool person worthy of collecting, she herself actually used the phrase “I like to collect people” once). Happy to be along for the ride of participating in social circles and events that felt impenetrable prior to meeting McKenna, I wasn’t upset to be kidnapped by this new best friend of mine. I think what I love most about and what initially drew me to her was her boldness and confidence. McKenna says what she believes and doesn’t think twice nor apologize about the content of her words (which at times did indeed put her in some hot water with fellow employees and mutuals). She’s unbothered by snarky comments that tear most people apart (also known as the ability to both “dish it and take it”) and when our older male friends made her physical appearance the topic of conversation she took it in stride and fired right back with movie-worthy one-liners.
McKenna’s also an incredibly down-for-anything lady, making her the easiest person to spend time with on a regular basis. Whether it was cliff-jumping, mussel-harvesting, nail-painting, or simply grabbing coffee from the Barnacle, McKenna made me feel as though all time spent together was precious and something to be remembered. And remember it I always will.
Now with all that confidence and self-assurance comes its own slew of ticks and oddities that I quickly familiarized myself with. McKenna holds herself on a pedestal in regard to beauty and “hotness” which was difficult at times for someone who’s struggled quite a bit in the past with seeing myself like that and focusing on such phenotypical aspects. But at the end of the day, McKenna’s pride ultimately rubbed off on me in a beneficial way. Slowly and perhaps not to the same degree (yet still exponentially more than before), I began to see myself as a similarly desirable human on the island and McKenna’s constant reminders of that were a huge factor.
Respectfully though, I don’t think I’ve met a girl with a bigger ego.
McKenna’s sense of humor is that of everyone’s and by that I mean she can literally make anybody laugh. A brewery table full of old men; a raunchy restaurant kitchen; a dorm room of girls; a staff meal alongside our bosses; You could plop McKenna into any scenario and within two minutes she’d find a way to have the room cackling and hooked to her banter. In her own words, she has an “approachable face” which she believes is the sole reason so many folks feel comfortable around her, but I’d like to think it has something more to do with her positive disposition and massively welcoming doe eyes.
Over the course of around 12-and-a-half weeks, McKenna and I developed a bond of loyalty that I never expected to find in such a short amount of time, but I feel oh so blessed that I did. From all of our day-off adventures to our late-night party rounds and early-morning hungover recaps, I feel nothing but happiness when looking back on it all. I’m not sure where I’ll see McKenna next. Maybe I’ll find myself passing through Colorado or perhaps we’ll cross paths in Massachusetts, either way, I know we’ll pick up right where we left off next summer.
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