Hannlis In Hibernation

Oct. 20, 2020 — If we’ve learned anything from these many months of limiting contact, it’s that the company we keep can make or break us. Lucky for me, I’ve been holed up with Hannlis!

Cardie Laurie LeBlanc put it well when she once wrote of our Cardie Newsletter, “I love the stories but, I have to tell you, I love Hannlis more.” Haha, we’ve heard similar from so many of you that we want to give you this heads-up: Our Hannlis will celebrate her 97th two weeks from today — Nov 4th — and invite you to delight her with a card sent c/o my address below. :)

For Cardies new to the fold, let me explain that Hannlis and I both live in one of the few remaining little, former motels overlooking the ocean on Miami Beach; H’s apartment is just down the catwalk from mine. Because our other 2nd floor neighbors are absentees, the two of us have basically had the whole place safely to ourselves since March. 😷😷

Here you see H at dusk on the balcony right outside my apartment. That’s where life’s been happening lately! It’s where she shreds zucchini for our “loaves of love,” as her appreciative son calls them; it’s where she asks me to set her Kindle font size at humongous so she can more happily read; and it’s where she’ll wave big hellos to friends heading down to the water, “Have a swim for me!” Unllleeess it’s a day that she can’t pull herself away from the tv and has been known to quick call to say, “Your boyfriend is on!” referring to brilliant presidential historian Jon Meachum with his amazing baritone that I love. I’ll tease her that the volume on her set “MAKES IT SOUND LIKE HE’S RIGHT THERE IN YOUR BEDROOM!”

Because everyone who knows her has their own great Hannlis stories to share, below I’ve narrowed it down to My Top Three Hannlis Moments of the Pandemic (so far).

#3 A suspicious spot on the crown of her head concerned her enough that I made us back-to-back dermatologist appointments and, to limit our exposure in the waiting area, we agreed to share an examining room. Because I was there for an overall screening, I moved to the corner and changed into one of those paper gowns and, returning to her field of vision, heard H exclaim, “That looks so nice on you!”

#2 Scary heart palpitations had been keeping her up at night. One morning she called to inform me, “I believe it’s the red wine,” a glass of which she often has at the end of a day. “Well, that’s good to know,” I said, “as that’s easily solved,” meaning skip the red wine of an evening. “Agreed!” she said, “That’s why I’m calling. Did you write down the name of that rosé we had last week?”

#1 When day is done, I’ll grab her mail while I’m getting mine, and bring it up to the balcony. She’ll generally be stretched out there in her zero gravity chair, savoring the changing colors of the ocean and sky. Hannlis will open her cards and letters and I’ll read the fine print aloud, then I’ll often sit and enjoy opening my own. One evening I laughed so hard when I saw the back of a Cardthartic envelope on which Cardie Ann John had teased, “Guess which card is inside?!” 🤣 It was The More I Know You, The More I Love You.

I showed the card to H, and we discussed how fortunate we feel that this company has introduced us both to so many kind and clever Cardies like Ann, all across the land. Although Hannlis’s wise, old eyes had a hard time reading the card front, she apparently took its message to heart … a week later, when H dropped her chair cushion inside my door, done for the day, I walked over to say good night. “Sleep well,” she said, while giving me the same, big virtual hug that she has for roughly 198 sleeps now. “You, too!” I said, and turned to go back to what I was doing, when she earnestly added, “And, Jodee, the more I know you, the more I Love You.”

Ok, just one last H Moment: One afternoon I stepped out onto the balcony and found her with her iPhone in her lap and a sweet, far-away smile on her face. “My baby brother (Otto, 95) just called,” she explained. “It’s our father’s birthday today. We had a good, long talk, just remembering.”

Below you’ll see some of the cards inspired by H over the years. To wish Hannlis a Happy 97th Birthday:

c/o Jodee Stevens
9241 Collins Avenue, #14
Miami Beach, FL 33154