We Be Friends

Jen, at her recent good-bye party from work, taken by the excellent Don P., and completely ripped off, from his hilarious and wonderful blog.

Ladies & Gentleman, if I could pry you away from the orange white blobs of cuteness for one moment, I’d like to shout HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Jenny Sue! It isn’t Jenny Sue’s fault that her birthday would fall on the day after our home was infested with cute kittens. Nor is it her fault that it would fall in a week that I was feeling crummy with a cold. But she will just have to settle for the JENNIFER SUE ZIEGLIER BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE a day late.

Where do I even begin to assemble the words of how great she is? When I met her, she was walking through the lobby of her now former job, and she introduced herself. Sometimes when you meet someone you just know: YOU AND ME BE FRIENDS. That’s what it was like when I met her. A little light went on, that said, this gal is going to be my friend. The first time we hung out, she brought chocolate. Need I say, I knew then she was a keeper!

Jenny Sue is the youngest of EIGHT KIDS. One of the things I love about her is that you can perfectly imagine who she was as a kid. Meaning, the kid in her is never far from the adult. Once we ended up in an empty dance club, and the minute she spied the short stage and microphone, she was ON IT! We couldn’t get her away from it! She has an enthusiasm for life that is infectious. Almost everyone who meets her wants to be around her more often. She’s also the most fun to be in a bookstore with. I don’t know why, but the hijinks between us never got CRAZIER than when we were browsing in Bookshop Santa Cruz on a Thursday night. Inevitably, one of us would start making some theatrical joke and neither of us could stop the rollicking giggles from coming over us. It seemed only to DOUBLE, when there was a poetry reading happening, and we would be snickering, trying to contain the roar of laughter that was building inside of us, doubling over in the Self-Help section at the far end of the store. It happened nearly every time without fail. We’d even start somewhere else, have serious, meaningful talks about life and journeys, and whether ice cream should be eaten, end up in the bookstore, quietly browsing, and then one of us, would start with a joke about a book title, and THAT WOULD BE IT. I’d say those Thursday nights are what I miss most about being in California—tied with Sunday nights with my little brother and sister, and the Pacific Ocean.

Recently, she quit a well paying corporate job, to do non-profit work for PETA, to follow her passion for animals and animal rights. Not many of us have much wherewithal to even know what our passions are, much less follow them. Like everyone else, she has many self-complaints, and I would say that she doesn’t know how incredibly BRAVE and WISE she truly is. To this, I’d also like to add that she is an incredible athlete, seamstress, dancer, dreamer, adventurer, fashion icon, and artist. I can honestly say that that my friendship with her has taught me more about REAL friendship and relationships than anyone else. What a gift.

Jenny Sue, thank God you were born. What a dim bulb my life would be without you. Happy Birthday.