Home / 2016 New Jersey / NYC 121
Many people who know us are aware that we first met each other in 1994 via the fan e-mail list for indie Boston band Tribe. Last year, our dear friend Jared went to the Jersey City Art Studio Tour (JCAST), and randomly ended up in the art studio of Janet LaValley, Tribe's lead singer. She was amazed that he knew Tribe, as they had broken up over 20 years ago. Jared told her that Craig and I had met because of the band, and had been married for 17 years.
After that, we were able to connect with Janet via e-mail. She was very friendly and we kept in touch. She was interested in our godchildren and we would occasionally send her photos from our travels. She told us that she would be participating in JCAST again this year. We thought this was the perfect excuse to take a long overdue trip to visit Jared and Dave and do some NYC sightseeing. (We haven't seen them since their wedding two years ago).
Janet thought this was a great idea, so we made a plan to do it. A couple of weeks ago, we were surprised and delighted to receive a package in the mail from Janet. She had transformed a photo that we had sent her (us with our Guatemalan and Ecuadorian godchildren in traditional Otavalan dress) and created a lovely collage with a vibrant hand painted background. We were so honored. She said she had been inspired by the photo. it was an amazing work of art. She was a bit shy and said she hoped she wasn't overstepping by using the photo. Exactly the opposite; we are so humbled and appreciative! Now we really couldn't wait to visit her, to get to thank her for it in person! Craig had met her a couple of times back in the day, but I never had.