April 23, 2017
[a bittersweet day]
Today is Johannah'z birthday.
On this day I celebrate (and miss) my best friend.
Jo hosted MANY birthday parties.
Celebrating Jo's birth was an annual event during our school years; one that Jo (shrewdly) initiated by hosting her first birthday/pajama party in 1972. Not only did Jo introduce me to rock-n-roll on that auspicious occasion and thereby change my life; she unintentionally led me (and our other BFF Sheila) into a lifestyle fraught with hard-core pajama-partying. While other teenagers were involved in normal after-school activities, like drinking and making out at drive-in movies, we were spending the night at Jo's house and practicing our Rolling Stone and/or Liza Minnelli impersonations.
Indeed, I bonded deeply with Johannah (over massive quantities of Chef Boyardee pizza) at her first Jolebration sleepover. That was due in part to her enviable ability to emulate the laugh of Dick Dastardly's dog & sidekick, Muttley. (The free pizza may have played a part as well.)
Come to think of it, Jo's personality was very similar to Muttley's. She was hilarious, mischievous, and loyal to a fault (as demonstrated by the way in which she faithfully followed me into many ill-conceived misadventures over the years).
Jo was Ethel to my Lucy; Keith to my Mick.
Yes, Jo had many birthday parties. But there should have been so many more . . .
Therefore, in loving memory, I will don my party hat and say ...
Happy Birthday Johannah!!!
love always,
Connie
( & also Sheila - who feels the same, but is too lazy to blog )
