In All The World Only One

As a woman, when you reflect upon all the things you hope to be in your life: a raving beauty, a cunning wit, a savvy business person, a cultured, articulate citizen of the world, a dutiful daughter, a committed wife and a devote mother, you really need to look no further for a role model than Joyce Vignoles.

My roommate’s mother, a woman with the strongest individual style I have ever seen, who can speak as many languages as you can count on one hand, has put all three of her children through university, created and maintained several successful businesses and has seen more of the world’s wonders than most of us could ever dream.

And it is as one thinks of sayings such as; “aging like a fine wine” or “only getting better with age” that they becomes less of trite cliches and more of accurate descriptions when you apply them to Joyce. She embodies the grace, courage and acumen that can only be garnered with experience. But should an individual be without the inner fortitude to mold these attributes, they would be lost, but in Joyce’s case they were embraces and nurtured, leaving the rest of us to stand in awe of her many achievements and her incomparable strength of character. She is truly a blessing in the lives of all whom she touches! (And I’m not just saying that because she has helped to clean at least half of the apartments I’ve ever lived in, although she has indeed done that, and never once with a complaint, and never once expecting anything more than a simple thank you.)

Reader, I relate this all to you now, not even knowing her as well as others do, but I dare say, those closest to her, would without exception, absolutely agree.

Happy belated birthday and a merry Christmas Joyce!! May the world continue to learn from your example, and have the gift of your company for many, many years to come!

It seems as though in life there are some things that are too uncanny, well timed and just generally perfectly planned to be a coincidence…my relationship with my roommate is one of those things.

Meeting Claire, a person with similar life experiences, core values, and overall mentality as I, has always seemed to be almost too well orchestrated to not have been the work of some higher power. Whether it was just us sitting around scheming on “the other side,” or the work of God, Azna, and/or Ganesha, someone or something clearly had a hand in our meeting and knew exactly what they were doing when they arranged for us to be thrown together in the dorms of UCSB.

Of course I know that our 7 years of friendship (which for at least 4 of them, we spent the majority of our waking moments, and almost all of our sleeping moments together) has had a lot to do with influencing our similar sense of humor, likes and lessons learned - making us probably the best suited “partners in crime” in the history of sidekickdom.

But truth be told, despite all of our similarity, we are VERY different people. Claire is spontaneous, romantic, low maintenance, optimistic, outgoing and adventurous, while I am much more conservative, high-strung, reserved (pre-cocktails that is), rigid and well, just generally boring. But it is these qualities that we bring to one another’s lives that make such a great team, and provide the proper balance.

I credit her, entirely with “pulling me out of my shell” and providing me the framework of confidence that has allowed me to make just about all the “gutsy” decisions I’ve made in my adult life. She has been the best confidant, catalyst and companion I could have ever asked for, and I feel beyond blessed to not only know her, but to be able to spend as much time in her presence as I have and continue to do.

The thing about my roommate is that it can sometimes be hard to look past the overwhelming sparkle of her public persona, and her striking good looks, to be able to see the truly deep, sensitive, ultra caring, talented and wise person below the surface, but once you do, you know you’re in the company of greatness.

And it is with this knowledge that I look so very forward to the year ahead of us and all the “happenings” we will be a part of, both together and separately. Happy birthday Roomie!! May we celebrate many more of them and many more years of friendship. Love you.com