I have a handful of friends, all of whom you've seen or will eventually see within this photo series that have...
IT.
You know, that thing Simon Cowell was always bitching about people not having on American Idol. He called it "The X factor," though I'm pretty sure that's just a catchy way of saying someone is more exciting than the rest of us. Jessica Loyd Fitzgerald happens to be one of those people, though I'm not sure she would acknowledge it anymore due to her relatively recent transition from local commercial and stage actress to loving wife, mother of one.
"Jessi" worked at a popular Italian chain restaurant back in 2005 when we met. I was a new waitress and terrible at my job. She was a sometimes key-holder that often imparted words of wisdom like "Dude. Stop getting weeded. We're not giving these people spinal surgery. We serve spaghetti. That's it."
The first time she and I hung out away from work, we were double dating with our boyfriends at the time. From the moment she opened her mouth to speak that evening, I was in competition with her. She was beautiful in a way that I was not... Which drove me nuts. And as we opened up about our lives, I learned that like me, she was involved in theater, music, modeling... The list went on.
I wish I had some sort of audio recording of that first conversation because I imagine that listening to it today would yield a hilarious back and forth, highly competitive narrative that would make she and I both cringe in unison.
"Oh really? You did a musical? Which one? I've been in seven."
"Oh, well I just meant one musical at my preschool. I've done 16 total."
"Well, I'm not sure if any of those were at a National level like one of mine was, but that's great you did so much local theater."
Oh. My. God.
I'm pretty sure at some point we just gave up. Because suddenly it seemed like trying to outdo each other would be way less fun than joining forces and ruling the world. Which is essentially what we did (by "the world", I mean "north Austin" by the way). We each became half of one of those inseparable pair of friends whose names you always end up saying together rather than separately.
"Are Brie and Jessi coming?" (No)
"Why are Brie and Jessi late to rehearsal?" (We're not late. We're skipping).
"Did Brie and Jessi seriously sneak wine onto this Christian College campus?" (Yes).
Sometimes when we were flat broke, Jessi and I would dress up like celebrities and go sit at the bar of one of the most expensive restaurants in our area, order a glass of wine and wait for the free dinner and drinks to start rolling in. Unsurprisingly to us, they always did... And we went home each night full, tipsy and with no intention of calling any of the rich, older gentlemen that we had spent the evening chatting with.
In 2007, I moved from Austin to Houston and immediately got married. My first child was born in 2008 and Jessi and I lost touch a little bit. Sure, we spoke on the phone every once in a while and she came to visit at some point, but for the most part our lives kind of drifted away from each other.
However, when I was pregnant with my second baby, Jessica Loyd became Jessica Loyd Fitzgerald and had a little bundle of joy as well... A little girl named June, who Jessi and her husband affectionately call "the Bug."
I was a little worried about Jessi following her daughter's birth because, like so many first time moms, she seemed so lost to me. So confused about bridging the gap between who she is and who she felt like she's supposed to be. She wanted to work... But didn't want to leave June at daycare. She wanted her body back, but felt like it was gone forever. There was so much doubt, guilt and insecurity in her voice for those first several months.
But one day, Jessi rushed a very sick June to the hospital where she would be diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and everything changed.
Meningitis is like the medical boogeyman of parenting, and for good reason. Another friend of mine lost her son to it when he was three years old. Children die from this. Often.
June, however... She survived.
And through that experience, Jessica became both the mother that she wanted to be and the mother she was supposed to be. It's like all those motherly instincts kicked into overdrive and catapulted Jessi into a realm of parenting many of us don't even know exists. I have mountains of respect for this woman and now have the pleasure of her phone company once or twice a week... Sometimes more.
Had her life been different, I truly believe that Jessica Loyd Fitzgerald would have been someone you might read about in People or US Weekly. Entertainment tonight would gush over her red carpet choices and Roger Ebert would call her a "petite Julia Roberts."
She looks like a celebrity and has the personality and talent to back it up.
But Jessica Loyd Fitzgerald is not famous. She's a wife. A mother. And my friend. And I'm not Roger Ebert or Kelly Osbourne (thank God). I'm just a housewife making fake fashion models out of the women I know in my real life.
But does that make us any less interesting or exciting than the women who's fame precedes their normal lives?
I'm going to go with:
No.
