Half Her Life

I have this friend, you may recall me talking about her here once or twice.  Janice? Yeah, her.  Well.  This year marks two major milestones in her life.  One is a significant birthday – yes, she turns 40 this year!!  And the other is that we’ve been friends for 20 years now.  So, according to my math, that means she’s been putting up with me for half her life.

In honour of these milestones, I thought I’d share 20 memories and pictures for my wonderful friend.

1. Very first day of decorating school.  I knew not a soul.  We did class introductions and we both had moved to Lower Sackville for school.  So I decide to get to know her first, figuring she might be as lost and lonely as me.  That first day of school, I invited her to join me for an adventure after class.  We eat pancakes at the Big Stop and explore Laurie Park and that, dear readers, is where this friendship started.

2. I sat behind Janice in class.  She has the longest, most beautiful dark curly hair.  Which required frequent style adjustments during the long school days.  My static pant legs would be covered in her long hair off the floor behind her chair as I stretched my legs out under my desk.  I had short blond hair….there was no mistaking who they belonged to!

3. Middle names came up one day in class.  Our lovely teacher was letting us guess her middle name.  Sweet Janice pipes up and says something along the line of it can’t be as awful as Gertrude.  Guess what Mrs. Kent’s middle name was? Yep, Gertrude.  Janice was mortified.  And I have still to let her live that one down.

4. Janice and I traveled to and from Lower Sackville on the weekends to go home and get a break from school.  I had a cat named Drew that she hated. { How do cats know who hate them and go to them regardless? }  Drew came back and forth with me sometimes and I recall one eventful trip home when my trusty Ranger left us all stranded on the side of the highway…..not one of our best trips home….she still hates all our cats….and bonds with Lena over ways to torture or kill them, all in fun…I hope!!!

5. I love the backroads.  No secret.  So, after delivering Janice’s furniture back to Cape Breton at the end of the school year, I took the scenic route home from CB….lots of gravel roads, probably not enough gas to feel comfortable, lots of memories and of course, no map!!!  I’m sure it took longer than if we actually took the highway but what’s the fun in that?  But, I’m willing to bet she’d still hop in the car and travel some back roads with me!!

6. Graduation Day at The Cohn.  Look how young we were!!

7. After knowing Janice for only a year, I was honoured to be asked to stand with her as she married her best friend, Trevor. Such a fun, beautiful, meaningful day celebrating the love they share.

8.  At some point, Janice and Trevor lived on PEI.  Michael and I loved to go over for the weekend to visit with them.  One trip, we stopped by and Janice made us lunch.  Still to this day, those sandwiches she made us are the best sandwiches we’ve ever eaten.  Not sure what made them so tasty, must’ve been that they were made with love!!

9. Janice stood with me, pregnant with Wyatt, when I married the handsome Mr. Byrne.  My favourite memory from that day was waking up crazy early and sneaking out of the house with Janice to go get cinnamon rolls at Tim Horton’s.  Then we went to Sobey’s and bought pumpkins and sunflowers to decorate the front step of the church.  Sitting on the front steps of that sweet church with her will be forever etched in my memory of that day.

10. Janice and I have different decorating styles.  But I love the homes she creates for her family.  You can see pictures HERE, HERE and HERE.

11. Going to Cape Breton is always a favourite way for me to get away.  It’s the perfect change of scenery.  And Janice has such a gift of making each visit special and makes you feel as though you matter the most.  She spoils me rotten in other words.  You can read about a few trips HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.  { I see there are some sideways pictures….not sure why…I’ll edit those later…. } Sometimes she comes to me….which you can read about HERE.  She always does such a good job of taking care of me, I hope she feels the same when she comes to visit me!!  She’s my favourite person to host!

12. Janice’s friends in Cape Breton have become some of my friends, too.  I love how welcoming they are.  And they are game for a roadtrip to support me in some of my endeavors, too.  This picture is from my Homegrown Vintage Market when a carload of them drove down to spend a few hours shopping the market.  I’m so thankful to know that Janice is surrounded by amazing friends.

13. Sugar Moon is our top pick for a place to eat….you have to take a picture in front of the fireplace every time!!!  The best memory of Sugar Moon was when we each had a baby in a car seat, the snow was softly falling outside the window, the coffee was hot….ahhhh, it was perfectly peaceful and relaxing.

14. Janice and I both love to hunt for great treasures.  We have walked the aisles of antique stores, thrift stores, the lawns of strangers at yard sales and even an estate sale that will forever be etched in our memories due to the colourfully carpeted bathrooms….  We even had one of our road trips featured in the magazine I write for!  You can read it HERE.

15. Friends – no matter the season!!!

16. I love how Janice loves the girls.  She always welcomes them with open arms, makes sure they feel loved and spoiled, too.  She teases them, wrestles them and will swing in the trees with them.  Janice has a houseful of boys so she loves to do girlie things with my girls, like painting their nails or braiding their hair.

17. Back in our school days, sometimes we would skip school to go on adventures.  I recall hiking Cape Split with Janice and a few other fellow students and then there was the time we went to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in the middle of a snow storm, typical adventures, right?

18. One of the things I love the most about Janice is how she is there for me to celebrate the highs,  grieve the losses and talk about everything in between.  No matter the time of day, I know she’ll be there for me.  I feel loved and heard with her.  We have cried tears of sadness, laughed until tears ran down our checks, hugged long, prayed hard and loved each other unconditionally for 20 years now.  She’s got my back not matter what.  And I don’t see that ending anytime soon.  I know we will be little old ladies getting into mischief with our canes and walkers.

19.

20.  Janice is the best at sending mail.  I love going to the mail box and finding a beautiful card { quite often made by Simone } with a handwritten, thoughtful note in it.  The note will always make me smile and usually make me cry.  I have a saved them, they feel too important and special to toss.  When I’m dead and gone, my girls will find a box of notes from Janice and know just how well she loved me.

This marks 20 years of friendship.  And 40 years of the world being blessed by Janice.  She loves fiercely and protectively.  She fights for the underdog.  Her home has welcomed numerous foster children regardless of the fact she has 4 of her own boys and they have each been prayed over, loved and snuggled as if they were her own.  And grieved for when they leave for their new life.  She loves her momma, admires her father, prays for her family.  She is a Proverbs 31 woman and holds her faith in utmost importance.  I am so thankful for the 20 years she’s played such an important role in my life and I look forward to at least 20 more.

Happiest of Birthday, my dear friend.  I love you more than the words of this blog post could ever say.  Your are a treasure.

Warmly,

Lori