Jolie was one of my two best friends during high school. We kept in touch after we graduated and when she told me she had a brain tumor we both cried. During her years of treatments, Jolie volunteered to be part (a guinea pig) of experimental cancer treatments being done. Jolie knew it would only be a matter of time until the cancer would take her so she volunteered in the hopes that others would benefit from whatever might be discovered. She flew back east for the experiments that doctors did on her. Many of the experiments eventually became standard treatments for other patients. What a brave trooper!
At one of our reunions (I can't remember which one), Jolie's husband Jeff, Ron Bates (my husband at the time), Jolie, and myself shared a table. Jolie was wearing a wig because she had lost all her hair due to the cancer treatments. Jolie and I decided we would go forward so I could pull her wig off and present her as "The Most Bald" person in attendance. The husband's didn't think it was a very good idea and decided for us that we weren't going to go anywhere and pull anybody's wig off.
Does anyone remember opening night of the play "Please Don't Drink The Water"? Gene McCombs (drama teacher) named Jolie and I to the "harem" in the play and at one point in the play we did a dance where all the harem members were on stage. Mr. McCombs had told us that school administrators were insistent that we have our belly buttons covered. So, the rest of the harem made sure the bottom piece of the "I Dream Of Genie" type costumes were up high enough to cover their belly buttons. But not Jolie & I.
We made a trip to Utah Craft & Novelty and purchased two big plastic jewels which we glued in our belly buttons on opening night. McCombs didn't laugh at what we had done and made it very clear to us that our jewels were NOT belly button covers. For the rest of the performances we were to cover our belly buttons with our costumes. We thought that was soooooooo boring but we complied in order to remain in the cast. We laughed about it for years.
Another time, we purchased two pairs of men's boxer shorts which we dipped in plaster of paris so they would stand up by themselves. We let them dry then spray painted them a beautiful shade of blue. We cut dice shapes out of red felt and used a magic marker to draw dots on them so they looked like dice. We glued the dice all over the boxers and wrote "shooting craps" on the boxers. We thought they turned out magnificently and were ready to present to two special guys. But guess what? The guys didn't appreciate, nor were they impressed with, the talent that went into those dice covered boxer shorts. Talk about a lot of work for disappointment as our only reward! We resolved never to make plaster of paris, dice covered, boxer shorts for them ever again!
I think of and miss Jolie tons. We had so much fun when we were together conspiring what we could come up with next. The two of us made a great team!
For now I want you, my friend, to rest well. You'll need to be ready for all the mischief you and I've been planning for since you left so long ago. If you hear the fire bell at the fire station ringing nonstop, you'll know it's me announcing my arrival. Meet me there at the fire station where I'll be waiting for you - I'll see you when I get there!
Janet O'Reilly (Herron)
Jolie was one of my two best friends during high school. We kept in touch after we graduated and when she told me she had a brain tumor we both cried. During her years of treatments, Jolie volunteered to be part (a guinea pig) of experimental cancer treatments being done. Jolie knew it would only be a matter of time until the cancer would take her so she volunteered in the hopes that others would benefit from whatever might be discovered. She flew back east for the experiments that doctors did on her. Many of the experiments eventually became standard treatments for other patients. What a brave trooper!
At one of our reunions (I can't remember which one), Jolie's husband Jeff, Ron Bates (my husband at the time), Jolie, and myself shared a table. Jolie was wearing a wig because she had lost all her hair due to the cancer treatments. Jolie and I decided we would go forward so I could pull her wig off and present her as "The Most Bald" person in attendance. The husband's didn't think it was a very good idea and decided for us that we weren't going to go anywhere and pull anybody's wig off.
Does anyone remember opening night of the play "Please Don't Drink The Water"? Gene McCombs (drama teacher) named Jolie and I to the "harem" in the play and at one point in the play we did a dance where all the harem members were on stage. Mr. McCombs had told us that school administrators were insistent that we have our belly buttons covered. So, the rest of the harem made sure the bottom piece of the "I Dream Of Genie" type costumes were up high enough to cover their belly buttons. But not Jolie & I.
We made a trip to Utah Craft & Novelty and purchased two big plastic jewels which we glued in our belly buttons on opening night. McCombs didn't laugh at what we had done and made it very clear to us that our jewels were NOT belly button covers. For the rest of the performances we were to cover our belly buttons with our costumes. We thought that was soooooooo boring but we complied in order to remain in the cast. We laughed about it for years.
Another time, we purchased two pairs of men's boxer shorts which we dipped in plaster of paris so they would stand up by themselves. We let them dry then spray painted them a beautiful shade of blue. We cut dice shapes out of red felt and used a magic marker to draw dots on them so they looked like dice. We glued the dice all over the boxers and wrote "shooting craps" on the boxers. We thought they turned out magnificently and were ready to present to two special guys. But guess what? The guys didn't appreciate, nor were they impressed with, the talent that went into those dice covered boxer shorts. Talk about a lot of work for disappointment as our only reward! We resolved never to make plaster of paris, dice covered, boxer shorts for them ever again!
I think of and miss Jolie tons. We had so much fun when we were together conspiring what we could come up with next. The two of us made a great team!
For now I want you, my friend, to rest well. You'll need to be ready for all the mischief you and I've been planning for since you left so long ago. If you hear the fire bell at the fire station ringing nonstop, you'll know it's me announcing my arrival. Meet me there at the fire station where I'll be waiting for you - I'll see you when I get there!