Joan, Jalna

I know you have already met Joan, a/k/a my best friend. I am also certain you immediately realized, despite our seemingly forever friendship, we are quite different.

Joan is the ultimate optimist, and me, well, I don’t have to tell you about that. You already know.

Recently I wrote an article mentioning my routine trips to the library on 50 Street and Tenth Avenue. What I should have mentioned that it was a well worn path down the “Avenue” by most of the youngsters living in Hells Kitchen.

I rarely arrived at the stone steps leading into the dismal gray building without having waved or passed two or three classmates or young neighbors. Our library visits were not mandated, but rather eagerly anticipated events especially during the months when the wind from the Hudson River was cold. Indoor skating rinks were not part of our lifestyle, nor were computers or internet devices. They lived in a world yet to come.

Parental restrictions were few and far between. Fortunately, none related to reading and without any problem I quickly relinquished the children’s section and ventured up the wooden staircase to the utopia of Adult literature.

Don’t misunderstand, there was nothing objectionable in the crowded shelves, just stories and sagas decreed suitable for more seasoned minds not inquisitive youngsters.

However, that is where I discovered, “JALNA,” a series of sixteen novels written by the Canadian author, Mazo de la Roche. In the months and years that followed, before I reached any semblance of maturity, I devoured each and every word written by the amazing author. Jalna was the name given to the manor house owned by a fictional family living in Mississauga, Canada. Suffice it to say, the Whiteoak family had no similarity whatsoever to The Bobbsey Twins. I still recall instantly felling in love with the entire complicated clan.

The sixteen novels cover one hundred years of the Canadian family beginning in 1854.

As in real life, the characters live and die; are successful and then fall to ruin. Yet Jalna, the manor house and farmland remains unchanged despite life’s upheavals.

The series by the prolific author was based on both fact and fiction. I don’t remember how long it took, but I do remember absorbing each volume and lingering over the dramatic story throughout much of my adolescence.

Meanwhile my friend was downstairs soaking up stories about beautiful princesses rescued by handsome kings and princes. She sought out the happy endings and they reinforced her beautiful innate enduring optimism.

In her own words, my friend, Joan Garrett Schmid, states:

“My mind never included darkness or witches or other scary creatures, but just the happy soppiness of the Prince and Princess living happily ever after.

“And guess what? That dream came true of both of us and we can live on memories of having found our own Princes and enjoyed five or six plus decades with them. Who gets to do that??? Not everyone. ”

In our daily emails, the contrast in our outlook on life is readily apparent. I sometimes wonder how much it was influenced by our early choice of literature and think perhaps I should have remained on the first floor of the library just a bit longer.

My friend’s constantly beautiful optimism enrichs my world.