I'm July 28, she's the 29th and according to Janice - I'm older.

In life we meet people that we have an instant connection with and that was Janice and I at a Halloween party about 8 years ago.  I'd eaten at her restaurant, Parigi, for years (when I could afford it) and seen her many times.  We had many of the same friends but the night she was Lucy and I was Maureen O'Hara, two redheads became instant friends.

I was a cater waiter for many years in my youth and I grew up in the restaurant business.  I knew that wasn't what I wanted to do as a career path but I do respect those who are immensely.  Janice has owned her restaurant for over 20 years and is one of the most celebrated local business owners in our city with countless connections and customers ranging from regulars with their usual seats to catering parties to private dinners.  I can say from experience that it's always perfect. 

Attending an "intimate family dinner" at her home, I brought a few desserts as a gift.  A few weeks later she came to my home to assess a little square of land to possibly put in a victory garden to grow fresh vegetables and herbs for the restaurant (that didn't work out because of the lack of morning sun and abundance of afternoon sun) but we started talking about her need for a consistent pie vendor.  We toiled over the fact that if a whole 9" pie was cut and not served completely in the same night - it was too compromised to last two or even three nights and that was a problem.  I reached in my cabinet and pulled out six 6" pyrex tart dishes and suggested that I make individual pies that she could market as "table desserts" or individual pies.  I took six buttermilk pies to the restaurant the next night and they all sold in that evening.  That was 6 years and 598 invoices ago.  We've both been written up individually for our accomplishments over previous years but articles since with both her business and my desserts in the same paragraph feels like a match made in heaven.  

Janice is a sincere and amazingly generous person.  She doesn't shower people with gifts or money but she encourages and provides opportunities to people she believes in.  I think she's an angel. This source of income has provided me with the bridge-gap I've needed over the past couple of years to stay afloat.  Also, recently I told her about a guy in my acting class that needed a better and more worldly job and she had an opening for new host - he got the job.  I'm proud to have connected she and Elijah Paul and I look forward to an abundance of opportunities that this will provide for him.

The best part about knowing good people is helping them when they need it and also accepting their help when I do.