So, there's this lady I know named Jenn who I became friends with in a weird, sideways sort of manner some time ago, and the more I got the know her, the more I liked her. She always makes me feel good when I'm around her. She's funny, and she's so funny and awesome that she makes everyone around her feel like they are the funniest person in the room, too. I have no idea how she does it.
She's been through The Shit. And if there's anyone who could qualify for a permit to kick babies, based on the crap she's been through, it's her. And yet... she laughs it off. Turns it into part of her set, if it makes a good story, and still finds time to listen to me bitch about the petty (and not so petty) bullshit in my own life.
I think I figured it out. On paper, her life has run somewhat parallel to my mother's life. Marriage, kids, divorce - they even smoke the same brand of cigarettes. But whereas my mother curled up in a spiteful ball of isolation and paranoia, Jenn didn't. She makes people want to help her, and then she lets them help her. She is not afraid to share the good and the bad - because neither one can destroy her.
Jenn's a lot stronger than she knows. It takes balls to choose to be happy and to not let the fucktards of the world take that away.
So, I'm looking at my own life - and there's some pain in it right now and more on the horizon (like her life and your life too) and I feel privileged to have Jenn as an excellent example of how to deal with it. Pain comes at you. It hurts. It angers you. You deal, and then, you find the funny in it and move on to the next joyous thing.
Thank you for being my friend, Jenn. I love you exactly as you are, and exactly as you'll always be.
