My Friend Janice

My friend Janice and I have certain things that we say that no one else would understand. If we are really tired and talking on the phone we say " Im going to light a candle" ,b/c one time she fell asleep while we were talking on the phone and she started talking about lighting candles and I was totally lost in the conversation. So now when one of us feels as if we might fall asleep while talking we say " I think Im going to light a candle". We pinky swear...... We are kinda like the YaYa sisterhood only we call ourselves " The fuqairis" You know....like where the F@@K are we? And then we laugh like idiots. We always have fun.

When she had her cataracts removed I took her. While she was having them done I went off to find a place to sleep b/c it was so early in the morning and I knew she would be awhile. After she was done they were looking all over that clinic for me and I didnt know b/c I went into this room and fell asleep. When she found me she said " I knew I could count on you to leave me stranded when I cant see".

We have been friends since I moved in next door to her Mom and Dad when she was a freshman in high school. I was about 22, a young Mother. She always used to hang over at my house while my husband was working. Then I lost track of her for a few years, but when her Father died I went to the funeral and invited her back to my house. She came and we just talked and talked and laughed so much, before we knew it it was 3 am. I told her, just stay the night, you can go home in the morning when your not so tired. For some reason she didnt want to stay...but she did. She fell asleep before I did...all of a sudden I heard this sound like my sidewalk was being jackhammered.....my daughter came into my bedroom and said " Mommy what is that?"...lol..it was Janice. She had obviously developed quite a snoring problem since we had gotten older. We laughed about it the next day...she said " that was why I didnt want to stay"..I said " you know I would only tease you about it, I eventually got to sleep over all that racket."

She had gained a good bit of weight over the years. She was going to get a stomach stapeling done. I went with her to Pittsburg to have it done because her Mother didnt want to go. Her Mom said " what can I do?". (Janice never forgot that her Mother wouldnt go with her). To this day we will look at each other and say....." what can I do"...then we laugh. I went b/c it was major surgery and her 2 sons ( high school age ) were there and I didnt want them to be alone if something happened to their Mother.

Right before Janice had her surgery we went on a camping trip with our friend Paula and her daughter, my daughter and my niece and I, Janice and her 2 boys. It was our end of the summer bash. The kids were rollerblading and having fun...we were sitting around the campfire talking and laughing. The people camped next to us started complaining about the kids making all the noise with the rollerblades.( they didnt have any kids) It was only 830 pm! We told them we would make the kids take the rollerblades off at 9. That didnt suit them....they called the police. 3 police cars came flying into the campground with their lights flashing! Then the park ranger was called in..it was hysterical. The kids were allowed to skate till 9 and the park ranger ended up sitting up with us at our campfire all night! We had a ball!

When she got put in jail I went at midnight to get her out. Her and her fiance had gotten into an argument, they were both drinking, he started smacking her around so she pulls a gun on him. I said " how could you?" She said " I only meant to scare him. it wasnt even loaded". Problem being..her fiance was the former Mayor of that town! What a fiasco that was...and no, they are not together anymore! But we managed to find some humor in the situation. She said she was Betty Crocker by day, Betty Ford at night, and I said and Betty Broderick since youve been in jail!

She had some tough times going through that. But I am happy to say that today she is going through Nursing School and has a job as a pflobomist ( sp) at the hospital. She is on the right track. She picked herself up and dusted herself off and she is doing well. She has a wonderful man now. He is a real sweetheart.She has been the best friend a girl could ask for. And we can say anything to each other. Sometimes we get a little snippy with each other and we just hang up till one of us calls the other one. We both always think we are right..always!..lol. We have had some great times over the years and we will always be friends. We both know we can count on each other. Everyone should have a friend like that!