Jamie

I would like to invite and encourage each and every single one of you to join me in celebrating the birthday (December 15) of one of my nearest, dearest, and longest friends, Jamie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!!!

When I say Jamie is one of my longest friends, let me tell you what, I do mean longest. The year was 1992 and I was just six years old and in the first grade at the Metro East Montessori School when I first met her. She came to us there as a teacher’s aide and IMMEDIATELY I knew she was phenomenal. She was friendly, kind, intelligent, courageous, caring, creative, adventurous, and just an all-around AMAZING individual who has effortlessly maintained every single one of those traits even now all these years later, never once allowing any of them to dull for even a mere moment.

Now I’ve shared this story before, but I feel that it’s very much worth sharing again. When I was in the second grade and not yet eight years old, “Miss Jamie,” as we all affectionately called her around Montessori, announced that she had gotten engaged. Typically news like this is always met with applause and excitement, but it wasn’t with me. Seven year old me was pissed and I do mean PISSED!

I stormed up to Jamie on the playground one spring day during recess with my finger raised in the air and told her she was making a terrible mistake and that this marriage was NEVER going to last! I was completely abrasive and direct, but it was all out of love, which even to this day remains a hallmark of my personality in accordance to many of the remarks I make to my loved ones. Even after Jamie had talked me off the edge and assured me that this is very much her life to live, not mine, and to get myself together, I still drilled her then fiancé with a multitude of questions ultimately demanding to know if he was going to take care of her the way she deserved to be taken care of.

Well, little seven year old me was correct, the marriage didn’t last, BUT Jamie did have a pretty outstanding, incredible, and absolutely HILARIOUS daughter with him, so it was definitely worthwhile because let me tell you all what, Kalissa, Jamie’s daughter, is easily one of the funniest and most entertaining people I’ve ever known. Kalissa showcases her intelligence and humor so effortlessly in her expressive and detailed stories that I’m just left in awe and amazement throughout the course of each one. It’s very much safe to say that she’s every bit as spectacular as her mom.

In my senior year at Collinsville High School, Jamie was a student teacher for one of my classes and we were able to reconnect then and thankfully with the advent of social media, were able to evolve that connection into what is now a beautiful and blossoming friendship.

Quite literally not a single week goes by where either myself or Melissa don’t talk or see Jamie in some way, shape, or form. Sure, some weeks it might just be from a Snapchat or a phone call, but those weeks are few and far in between. It’s extremely safe to say that my “Miss Jamie” has become one of the closest people in the whole entire world to me, honestly not just a friend, but family.

Since moving home from California in 2017, Jamie and I have been there for one another through all of life’s ups and downs. For me this is the very definition of family and I couldn’t possibly consider myself more blessed or thankful for her nearly life-long presence in my life.

I think Oprah best expresses how I feel about Jamie when she was discussing her feelings on Britney Spears in one of my absolute favorite memes. Oprah says this about Britney (and now I’m going to borrow it to showcase how I feel about Jamie because its’ just that good), “she’s the mother I never had, the sister everybody would want, and the friend everybody deserves. I don’t know a better person. I. Don’t. Know. A. Better. Person.”

So happy birthday, Jamie! Here’s to a lifetime of more impromptu zoo trips, FLOAT’s, Jedpardy’s, Italian Fests, Superbowl parties, poetry readings, royal weddings, and hopefully by the time everyone’s done reading this, they’ll know exactly who you are!

THANK YOU ALL for reading! PLEASE feel free to leave a comment or birthday message below! You already know I LOVE reading and responding to them and I will most definitely be passing each one on to Jamie! I’ll return soon, but until then, I wish you all, all the best!