Janna Banana

 It was the mid-80's and life was much simpler. 

Without cell phones, we simply rode our bikes around the neighborhood searching for friends. Our parents rarely knew where we were, but we always returned home as soon as the first streetlight illuminated, which in June could be 11pm. ;)   

It was my first day of kindergarten and I had trained for this day all summer. I practiced the walk to and from school all summer with my parents, and now that I was officially a kindergartner, I was expected to walk the few blocks home from school independently. 

Amendment: Mom swears that she picked me up from school that day. But I prefer my memory...

I had other plans. 

I met Janna. I liked Janna. It was her first day of kindergarten too. At the end of the school day (I think it was a half-day, ending at noon), I asked Janna, "Do you want to come home with me?"

Janna said, "Sure!"

When we arrived at my house, my mom asked me who my friend was. I couldn't remember her name, but I liked her. She had a picture of a dancing banana wearing sunglasses on her shirt. Mom asked Janna if her mom knew that she was at our house. Janna assured my mom that her mom knew where she was. 

Janna's mother was not aware of Janna's plans to go home with a random classmate. 

When Janna failed to return home from school on her first day of kindergarten, her mother was frantically scouring the neighborhood searching for her daughter. 

The police may or may have not been called, but eventually my mom contacted Janna's mom (likely through a phone book), and all was well. 

singing banana shirt!!!

This one pivotal event cemented a very special 40 plus year relationship.

Fast forward to July 2025 - approximately 41 years later. 

Janna and I "whooooo'd" as we popped the second bottle of prosecco. 

"Hey, you want to go on a Dirty Dancing weekend?" I asked Janna as I poured the bubbles into our glasses. 

"Where is it?"

"Somewhere like Virginia or West Virginia - definitely a Virginia."

"Sure!"

"You want to upgrade to the cabin?"

"Like THE cabin where Baby lost her virginity to Johnny Castle?"

"Probably, yep." 

"Sure." 

Independently, Janna and I are very rational and conservative beings who weigh pros and cons, always making informed and sensible decisions. But ever since that very first meeting back in 1984, when Janna and I join forces, we suddenly possess this impulsive and spontaneous energy (which can be amplified with the presence of alcohol) and occasionally lose all sensibility. 

I feel so incredibly lucky to have a Janna a in my life. 

Janna and I essentially grew up together. 

Because I was an only child (for 15 years), Janna was always my "plus 1" for summer camping trips and family weekends away. 

We learned how to waterski together and experienced our first sleepovers with each other (her mom always made us crepes for breakfast!)

We went through some rocky middle school friendship stuff but came back together in grade 9, just in time to start our tumultuous high school journey. 

We both made the senior volleyball team in grade 10 and were on the court when we won the provincial championship. 

Janna was the first person to suspect that I liked Evan Linday. Despite protesting that he was "just a friend," Janna dialed his number, threw the phone at me and then giggled uncontrollably when I screamed and frantically hung up the phone.

 "If you don't like him then why do you get a big, stupid smile on your face when you say his name?" 

She always knew how I felt, sometimes even before I recognized my own feelings. 

Janna was my first and only roommate in university. We began university life in Saskatoon with a thud, living quite miserably in a dank basement with a very dodgy landlord upstairs whom we suspected was rummaging through our drawers in our absence. Together, spontaneous and impulsive, we decided to make a big move to Edmonton to attend the University of Alberta, where I was going to pursue admittance into the Master's Speech and Language program, and Janna was going to pursue an environmental science degree. 

Our life in Edmonton was a blast. We lived in this incredible old house just off of Whyte Ave, situated perfectly between school and the best bar hopping street in Edmonton. 

We met so many great friends, and quickly merged with Janna's cousin's friend group, which resulted in so much fun. Waaaaay too much fun. 

We also worked hard. I remember attempting to study linguistics in my room over the sounds of the bird calls emanating from Janna's room where she was studying avian biology. 

We also shared an unhealthy obsession with Dirty Dancing. We owned a dilapidated VCR that required one to hold a cord a foot about the machine the entire time that a movie played. Committed, one of us sat on the floor holding the cord while we watched Dirty Dancing on repeat, miming every line of the movie while practicing the lift on our hardwood floor. 

Janna and I somehow found the perfect balance of late-night, belly-laughing, chair dancing, shot-taking FUN with early morning calculus classes and straight A's. 

Janna was my Maid of Honor when I married Evan.

I was Janna's Maid of Honor when she married Preston. 

In the spirit of spontaneity and impulsivity, in our 30's, Janna and I both encountered unexpected debilitating medical diagnoses at the same time. Although this was most definitely not a bright spot in either of our lives, I distinctly remember our parents helping our fragile bodies out to the car so that we could go for dinner together and thinking how unlucky we were to be so sick, yet how lucky we were to literally lean on each other during such a shit time. 

Janna and her husband, Preston, now have two boys, aged 14 and 11.  The boys are heavily into hockey. If you are a hockey parent in Canada, you know that this means weekend tournaments all fall, winter, spring, and sometimes summer-long. To add to the hockey commitment, Preston also coaches one of his son's hockey teams, in addition to his busy full-time job. 

Janna has been shattering the glass ceiling, paving the way for women in the mining industry for many years; however, this has been a banner career year for Janna. Janna's team has recently received federal approval to construct the first Uranium mine in Canada that will utilize a new type of mining called the ISR method, which is much better for the environment than conventional mining methods (it is much more technical than what I've described here, but it surpasses my100-level geology course knowledge). The bottom line, Janna is a very successful and busy woman. 

Janna and I typically get a few afternoons each summer to catch up. During these afternoons we attempt to cover all of life's major categories, while also recalling and reliving our childhood memories. It's a whirlwind and often results in a wine headache the next day. But, man, I savor those days. 

So, you can just imagine how excited I was to spend 3 whole days with my Janna at the location where our most cherished movie was shot! What a memorable experience. 

The Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia is location where most of the Dirty Dancing movie was shot in 1986. At that time the movie had a dismal budget of 7 million dollars and was unable to film in the Catskills, the setting of Dirty Dancing. One of the producers discovered the Mountain Lake Lodge on an in-flight brochure as they were scouring locations and after touring the property, they made the decision to film there. 

The Dirty Dancing weekend is s special event held multiple times a year that is jam-packed with Dirty Dancing events such as dance lessons, a character costume contest, trivia, dance parties, and a scavenger hunt which allowed us to discover the specific locations where memorable scenes were shot. There were about 130 people who attended our weekend, and I would guess maybe 12 of those participants were men. Haha! Evan would KILL me if I dragged him to that event!

But...It really is a Dirty Dancing fan's dream come true. 

As soon as you spot the iconic brick building from the driveway and hear the Dirty Dancing soundtrack blasting from the property speakers, you are instantly transported to Baby's arrival at Kellerman's Lodge in 1963. 

Janna and I enjoyed the events, and we especially enjoyed the people-watching/judging? Haha. There were some interesting people, to say the least...and a few couples who were really there to DIRTY DANCE! "How do you call your Loverboy?" "Come here, Loverboy!"

Our spontaneous and impulsive selves took over, and we even nailed the lift (we call it the "mini-lift") from the exact location that Baby and Johhny practiced in the movie (the lake has since dried up, so we persevered through rock and dirt). 

But, most of all, the biggest treat was hanging out together, without any time pressures.

There are not many people in your life with whom you can fill 3 straight days with constant conversation, flip-flopping between memories that span 40 years!!!

"Do you remember when the girls started freezing bras at that sleepover and I faked a stomachache so I could go home because I didn't have a bra yet?"

"How is your oldest kid enjoying his new school?"

"Yes! That was the night at the pipeline when X wanted to beat you up and I kissed Y!"

"What was the Premier of Saskatchewan like at your meeting last month?"

"Remember when we spent our last $20 on Ladies night at the Thunderdome. It was $1 highballs, so we drank all night AND got a cab home!" 

"Magnesium and CBD oil plus my bed cooler and lavender pillow spray has really improved my sleep score." 

(I highly recommend googling old classmates but be prepared for the occasional mugshot!)  

Between the 3-hour car ride each way, the lovely dinners, the slow morning coffees, and our "wine time" in our cozy cabin between events, we were basically living THE dream for 3 exquisite days. 

I'm so thankful that, with the help of prosecco, Janna and I became the impulsive and spontaneous versions of ourselves and pulled out our credit cards to book that trip back in July. Also, cabin upgrade...worth it!!!! The crooked wood floor really added to our lift-practicing experience.

I'm really proud of our friendship. Not many people have what we have. 

I'm so thankful for my Janna Banana. 

My goal for my 46th year was to connect in meaningful ways with others. Although this specific connection with Janna spilled over into my 47th year, it truly was the icing on my birthday cake. 

To be honest, there have been times in the past 15 years where I truly felt like the best days of my life might be behind me. My 46th year made me realize that the best is yet to come. It's time to get out of that corner and have the time of your life! (See what I did there?) 

Cheers to childhood friendships that endure through distance and time 💖