When I met my friend June in the fall of 1977 in an art class at Colorado College, little did I know that at the end of 2017, we would still be connected. What is special about our connection is that we can pick up where we left off every time we do see one another face to face. In addition, June has touched the lives of some of my immediate family members and some of my other friends.
June knows a lot about me, and sometimes does not agree with everything I do or how I think, but no matter what, I know she is my friend.
Below is a summary of what truly is a lifelong friendship:
My senior year at Colorado College was a unique one. You see, most Colorado College students lived on campus for their Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years and then moved off-campus for their Senior year, but I did the opposite. Because I was a competitive skater, I had lived off-campus for my first three years of college, but since I stopped competing in the middle of my Junior year, I really wanted to experience life in a dorm as a Senior. Living on campus was an amazing adventure for me and during the one year I had left in college, I decided to make the most of it and I just loved making new friends.
I met June in a senior studio art class in Packard Hall at Colorado College. The school's bright blue art building was like a piece of art in itself and had circular stairs leading up to student art studios on the top floor. The windows from the studios and classrooms gave those who used them a view of the beautiful Colorado mountains and Pikes Peak. During our three-hour class's 15 min break, I recall slipping on the building's stairs. Most of the students were in too much of a hurry to help me when I fell, but June and her friend Sharon stopped to see if I was alright.
June and Sharon's attitude really touched me.and I wanted to get to know them better. Shortly afterward, June and I got together. I learned that she was a young single mother of a four year old son named Slade. I also learned she was from Colorado Springs and had transferred from Pikes Peak Community College to CC. She also had earned a full-scholarship to CC, Colorado College.
I began taking walks off campus to visit her basement apartment that was about two blocks from campus. She'd make me tea and I would play with her cute little son Slade. Her apartment was decorated in a way that showed off her artistic talent and was very comfortable and cozy.
June also visited my college dorm room located in Ticknor Hall, a historic building that was over a hundred years old. Ticknor was for female students only. Little four-year old Slade sometimes would run around the dorm and delighted most of Ticknor's residents. Also, June and Slade joined me for lunch in the Rastall Center cafeteria at least a couple of times.
When I became interested in God during the fall semester of 1977, June invited me to church one day. I am Jewish and had never ever been inside a church, but took up her offer.
The most significant thing I remember about that church visit was that in the church bulletin something called "The Lord's Supper" was going to be served that morning. I was really concerned because I wasn't a bit hungry at 10 am on a Sunday morning and also wondered what in the world "The Lord's Supper" was. When little tiny cups of grape juice and small wafers were passed around, I had no desire to drink the grape juice, so I put it in the holder in the pew in front of me, but I ate the little wafer. June told me I had to drink the grape juice since I ate the wafer. I always think that memory is very amusing!
June is a great cook and loved making homemade pizza for friends. On Saturday night, the campus did not serve dinner, so it was common on Saturday nights for me to arrange a small dinner gathering at June's basement apartment. All who came loved eating June's homemade pizza and June was so proud of her culinary talents. She was very happy we liked her pizza. She gave her special recipe for the pizza out to friends and my friend Marion still has that pizza recipe!
When June and Bill became engaged in 1978 during the spring semester, I was one of the first to find out and I made the mistake of telling others about their engagement before June and Bill had a chance to announce the engagement to their friends. (I remember some of the students at the Taylor Dining Hall did not believe my news of their engagement.)
About a month after I graduated from CC, Colorado College, June and Bill got married. I was very excited to be able to attend their wedding. I still remember the beautiful and tasty cake that I ate at the reception and meeting June's family.
I think a day or so after June and Bill's wedding I boarded a plane for California to begin my post college life. June and I really missed one another, so the two of us exchanged letters on a regular basis. Her letters were long and very detailed and mine were short, but those letters kept us up to date on what each other were doing.
Dan and I spent our honeymoon in Colorado Springs during April of 1979, so we got together with June and Bill. Dan got to know them during that visit.
My parents also met June and Bill on one of our trips to Colorado Springs and my dad offered Bill a job working at his laboratory at the Veterans Adminstration in North Chicago. Bill and June took up my dad's offer and June, Bill, and Slade moved to Illinois.
I began visiting my parents in Illinois about once a year or every two years and during those visits, I would always see June at least a few times. We'd go to the mall or take the train to the Chicago Art Museum. Sometimes we'd go to a huge indoor pool in Zion and I'd swim laps. When June had another child named Hannah, I would spend time with June and her sweet daughter. I remember going to Great America together. During my Illinois visits we'd talk together on the phone for hours every night.
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| Bill, June, JO ANN - 1981 in Illinois |
Another memory I have is going to a church in Illinois with June. I remember the pastor said he "felt that someone present suffered from stomach aches." June looked at me and told me that that person must be me and that I should go forward. I remember feeling kind of out of place, but did obey June's advice. I stood in front with my eyes closed and felt the pastor's oily hands pushing on my forehead and wondered when all the praying would end. It seemed to go on and on. Finally, all the praying ended and I opened my eyes and it seemed like about 20 to 30 people were lying down on the floor around me! I guess I was supposed to fall down so that the service would end, but I didn't know I was supposed to do that! I do remember a lady coming forward who told me she would pray for me.
My Grandma Fannie moved to Illinois and lived with my parents in 1992. My parents hired June to "babysit" my grandma while they were at work. June's long letters kept coming and I welcomed news about my grandma's health and my parents.
As time passed, I had less and less time available to visit Illinois, but June's letters just kept coming. Once in awhile we'd talk on the phone too.
During the fall of 1990, June came out to San Francisco to visit me for two weeks while my husband Dan was in Israel. There are a lot of fun things I remember doing with June on that trip: We went to Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, went to the movies, visited our friend Sharon in Santa Rosa, and ate authentic Chinese food in the city.
In 2001, I learned that June's son Slade was in the Twin Towers in New York City on 9-11. Fortunately, Slade was able to get out of the building and was safe. He called June at about 9:30 am on September 11, 2001 and told her he was safe. June is a late sleeper so she was not yet informed on what had happened, but was so glad to hear her son was okay.
When Dan and I moved to Colorado, June and Bill would always see us during their trips to see their families in Colorado Springs. When my husband Dan was severely injured in 2005, June came to our house to see Dan and got to know my children and Dan's brother Mike. Ironically, June's father was in the hospital at the same time Dan was, so I had a chance to visit with June's father at the hospital.
At the end of 2010, my mother became very, very ill and was in hospice care in Lake Forest, Illinois. June came to the hospital when I was visiting my mom a day before Christmas and then June and Bill came to my dad's house on Christmas Day evening to visit. Seeing them meant so much to me and my dad during such a hard time in our family's life. During that trip, I helped June set up a Facebook page.
When my daughter Rebekah had an ice dance partner tryout with a boy from Chicago in 2013, June and Bill came to our hotel in Skokie to see me. Also, when June's father was ill and in convalescent care in Colorado Springs, my son Joel and I visited her father when June was in the Springs to see her dad.
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| June and Bill in 2013 |
In 2015, after my dad retired, June and Bill did a major cleaning and repair of my dad's house to get it ready to sell. They did everything from pulling the old carpet out to show off the hardwood floors, polishing the floors, cleaning out the refrigerator, cleaning the bathrooms, you name it! We decided to surprise my dad with all they did when my dad and I visited Illinois when my dad returned to the area to march in the graduation festivities at the Chicago Medical School. My dad loved and appreciated all the hard work Bill and June put in.
Bill, June, and my dad in his cleaned up Chicago house
About a year later, the house suddenly sold, and June did all the packing and getting rid of things we did not need. Bill and June worked so hard; they only had about three weeks to get everything packed and removed from the house. My parents lived in that house for 40 years, but some of the things June and Bill found were much older since my parents were married for 60 years. My family's cherished belongings arrived safely in Colorado and were packed with so much loving care!
My dad and I made one more trip to Chicago to clean out my dad's safe deposit box. We stayed in a Homewood Suites in Lincolnshire and every day during that visit, June and Bill came to our hotel to visit. She and Bill got to know our dear friends Lyman and Mary, and we had a great time together at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. June joined us all for a picnic one day too. And..she also joined me in riding a scooter!
June visited me in Colorado twice. My dad was so impressed with her hard work on his house that he suggested that June come to my house to help me redecorate. During that trip, she and Bill cleaned out a storage locker that included her father's belongings. In that locker was some very nice furniture that belonged to her mother, and June gave the furniture to us!
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| Me and my dad smile together in the cleaned up Chicago house |
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| June gave us the chairs, table, and pillow |
In June of 2017, June came to Colorado to see her brother for a family reunion, but came early to stay with us. We went on two wonderful hikes together and enjoyed being in our family's mountain Colorado house. She went to see my daughter Rebekah perform in the musical "The Music Man."
On the anniversary of 40 years of friendship, I wonder what the future years will be like for us. We continue sharing our lives with one another via Facebook and once in awhile, have long talks on the phone. One thing I do know for sure is that no matter what June is a loyal friend.
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| JO ANN and June - December, 2010 |
Here are just a few things I know about my friend June:
- She likes plain food and plain iceberg lettuce with Italian dressing.
- She has very small feet.
- She loves her cats.
- She likes to cook.
- She loves to read.
- She stays up late every night and likes to sleep late.
- In her younger days she was quite a hiker and climber.
- She thinks it is great that I hike, bike, scooter, ski, kayak, and swim laps!
- She doesn't like to swim in a cold pool.
Further Reading:
- Remembering My Friend Jeff
- Dan and I Treasure Our Friendship With Frank
- Facebook Reunited Me With My Junior High School Friend Bernadette
- Spur of the Moment Dog-Walking-Scootering With My Friend Larisa - 12-1-17
- Dog Scootering-Hiking-Running With My Friend Margar - Cheyenne Mountain State Park 12/1/17
- What This JO ANN's Friends Blog Is About
- I'm Thankful for My Friends
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