Making latkes with Catherine O’Hara

This has always been my favourite holiday photo. It doesn’t look like much to the average person, but to me it is everything beautiful about the life I lived in LA.

The tall guy is a boy I babysat before he was so TALL. His step mother and step grandmother are swooshing around in the latkes, and to the side is Catherine O’Hara.

In my world she wasn’t centre stage. She was just part of the same friend group. It started when I babysat him …

…which begat knowing the family

… which begat knowing the family’s friends

… which begat knowing Catherine.

This was us before Moira came along.

We chummed around at birthdays… and Hanukkah as shown here.

There was a new Japanese restaurant to try so we showed up.

An award event that required ties and fancy shoes so we showed up.

And even a little book signing for me where she showed up.

A hundred years ago at a book signing in Brentwood.

After Moira came along was fun, too. But weird.

The last time I spoke with Catherine was on a Zoom call. It was a group chat to celebrate a significant birthday in our friend group. Normally we would have all acted… well, normal. But Catherine became Moira before this call so we were all acting a bit weird. Smiling too much. Laughing at each other’s jokes too loudly. We were star struck by our friend.

It was nice to be the two Canadians in the crowd.

That always made for some extra special winking between us.

I must tell you… if you think she was funny… she was even more funny than people knew.

And with her husband… oh my stars my face would hurt after laughing at them play off each other.

It was a fun life.

Now my friend group will all be gathering in LA and I won’t be with them, which makes me so very sad. But thems the breaks when you live here and there and have social obligations here and there. Maybe I’ll just sneak off and show up in the night. Re-enter the coop as if I never left.

She was my favourite little gem of a star friend. And she was even better than you know.

—Janice

PS In non-related at all news, there are about 25 spots left for the February Cottage Letters Mail Club, a snail mail subscription celebrating the seasons and the quiet beauty of everyday living. It includes a letter and art print. If you want fun mail, go to the Etsy shop. This was January:

If you’d rather have this lovely art nouveau thistle with the letter, let me know when placing your order and I’ll make it happen. I have a few extras.