5
JORETTA: I remember that. I remember
meeting you. And it was hard to fit in. Because
everybody here, it's a small town, we all grew up
here, and everybody already has their cliques, and
their little friend groups. They have their little
book clubs and their Bunco groups, and they
were already established. And so, at that time, it
was hard.
MICHELE: I found myself in a group of, “hey,
do you remember when,” stories. And I didn't
‘remember when,’ because I wasn’t here. And
you always made it a point to turn the conversation
to, “hey, let’s remember now.”
JORETTA: Yep. Exactly. Let's do this now. Let’s
start new memories.
MICHELE: I will never forget those moments.
You saved me when I first arrived here.
JORETTA: You needed to be included. It's hard. I
knew that. I remember we went home that night
and was I thinking to myself, my gosh, she's so
quiet. Little did I know, you were so much like
me. The next time we met, we went out and had a
few drinks. And I realized you were just like me.
MICHELE: Yeah! I’m not so quiet. And we
realized real soon that our husbands couldn't stand
to be around us very much when we were together.
They went out with us a few times and then
they decided that we were better off on our own.
JORETTA: (Laughing) They were like, you both
drive us crazy. Because we tend to start talking
and they couldn’t hear or get a word in. So, yeah.
They decided to not come out with us anymore.
MICHELE: And I have loved you ever since that
first night. Thank you so much for welcoming me
to Haywood County.
JORETTA: We had an instant connection and
there's nothing like that. Even though we don't see
each other all the time, because our lives are so
busy, you are absolutely my best friend.
MICHELE: You know something I have
learned, particularly from our friendship, is friendship
isn't necessarily about seeing each other
everyday. But, when I need the most dependable
person in my life, it's you.
JORETTA: Yep, and I feel exactly the same way.
But, it’s more than that. We have this really deep
connection, and you know what I’m talking
about. Sometimes we can just feel each other and
know that something is wrong.
MICHELE: Like when we lost Clay. (Clay is
Michelle’s son that passed away) I’ll never forget
that. You knew something was wrong and we
hadn’t even talked to each other in a few months.
JORETTA: We do, we get these intuitions to call
each other, and it’s just such a powerful connection.
MICHELE:about Clay, drug addiction.
JORETTA: first time.
MICHELE:told you, and there for hours told didn’t know you were the that wasn’t JORETTA: was that it could have happened to me. It can
happen to anybody and anyone’s child. It
doesn't matter what kind of parent you are,
or what kind of kid you are. This can happen!
It's a real issue, and it's a real disease and it
knows no boundaries.
MICHELE:adult until the prescribed forever.
JORETTA: a gosh, he had to look after us sometimes.
(Both crying and laughing, holding hands)
MICHELE: But God also gives you the right
people. There were literally times after Clay
passed that I told my husband... “I just need some
Joretta time.”
JORETTA: Because we always know to make
each other laugh. And laughter is great medicine.
We can just get in the car and go and we laugh the
whole time. Sometimes, we get on other people’s
nerves because we laugh so loud, and that makes
it even funnier .
MICHELE: That is so true. And it's been a ride.
It’s been one hell of a ride with you so far.
JORETTA: Life is too short. That's one thing you
and I talk about. You have to embrace the people
you care about and let go of hard feelings and get
rid of toxic people from your life. The older we
we n talked each other connec-
: You were the only one that knew
my son, and that he struggled with
ion. I told nobody, but you.
I remember when you told me for the
: We were sitting in your car when I
nd we ended up sitting
urs crying. I told you I
w what to do, but I knew
he one person in my life
going to judge me or Clay.
The first thing I said to you
nybody ter d sue,oundaries.
: Clay was a perfect child and young
the accident. Then the doctors
him pain killers, and our lives changed
He was always a perfect adult. My
d g get, the better we get at doing that. I think at the
end of the day, we may not talk every day, we may
not see one another for weeks, but we know that
we are there for each other. And that makes you
my family.
MICHELE: And you’re mine. I hope that we will
always have each other. I love you so much!
Cheers to us.