Christine Soutter Suau & Jenn Norris
LIFELONG BEST FRIENDS CHRISTINE & JENN ARE THE HOSTS OF THE POPULAR PODCAST “SHENANIGANS WITH CHRISTINE AND JENN.” LIVING CRUE ASKED THEM ABOUT THEIR HISTORY AND FOR THE FORMULA BEHIND DECADES OF CONNECTION. THEY ANSWERED US IN THE FORM OF AN EXCLUSIVE PODCAST IN THEIR SIGNATURE, INAPPROPRIATE HILARITY AND LIKE-IT-IS-LIKE-IT-OR-NOT STYLE. HERE ARE HIGHLIGHTS, BUT REALLY—GO TO THEIR PODCAST (YOU CAN FIND IT WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS).
Recorded July 20, 2022
Christine: I’m so excited about today!
Jenn: Oh my gosh me, too! So, our friends at Living Crue magazine—
C: [sings] In Living Croo-ooh. Just kidding.
J: She’s going to sing through this.
C: I’m going to try not to.
J: Marci Bracken and Bridget Snell.
C: They’re so lovely but I think—and we may have mentioned this to them—but I’m, like, obviously the sappy of this duo.
J: I’m not.
C: No, I know, you’re the funny one. But we are so grateful that they want to recognize our friendship in the magazine. Which is, like, super cool.
J: Super cool, yes. So, they asked us a bunch of questions—and we really haven’t talked about our answers. We don’t even know what the questions are. I’m just reading them now.
C: Online. With a glass of wine.
J: We’re flying by the seat of our pants.
C: It’s what we do. Yeah. And we haven’t seen each other for like 2 weeks.
J: We have not. And then we’re going out tonight after this.
C: Woo!
J: Woo! I adore you.
C: I adore you back.
J: Hey!
C: Hey! Hashtag awwww! So this is kind of a cool concept, too, because they provided us with questions.
J: OK so [the first question] ‘In a nutshell’—I love that word. Nut. Shell–‘how did you meet when you were kids?’ You don’t remember, that’s the funny part.
C: I don’t. I mean, you know, my memory is shoddy at best. But not ‘shoddy 240.’
J: That was me, in high school. I was ‘Shorty 240’ in high school.
C: I never called her that, ever.
J: No, I know. But she was like Rachel and I was like Monica from “Friends.”
C: We were the real deal. The real deal Rachel and Monica.
J: Right.
C: Yes, but honestly, I don’t remember, because I think you’ve always been in my life.
J: Awww! We met on the bus. I remember it clearly. I have “Rainman” memory. She had these sparkly blue eyes. “Mesmereyes,” we called them. And she was so friendly and warm and kind. And I had really—
C: And you had a green and white striped sweatshirt, right?
J: No, but do you know when is the best time to wear a striped sweater?
J & C: All the time!
C: But I’m sure you had on a white turtleneck and either a Champion sweatshirt or a green and white striped hoodie.
J: And I had a lot of split ends. OK. so that’s how we met. We met on the bus.
C: How old?
J: 12-ish. What is your first memory of me?
C: I don’t really know, honestly, I don’t remember you not being in my life so I remember you vividly, again, with the mock turtleneck.
J: It wasn’t a mock turtleneck … No, I had a full turtleneck.
C: I know you did, I know.
J: That covered my entire neck. And my chin.
C: And your body.
J: And my other chin.
C: And your feathered, rolled hair.
J: Which I forgot to brush out.
C: No, no, that was that was the look. So, maybe at our first dance? Maybe in 8th grade? Maybe a dance?
J: Did we dance together? To “November Rain” by Guns N Roses?
C: It was Oxford Hills Junior High School.
J: Yeah, see, I’m sure that Marci and Bridget don’t want us to do this. I’m sure they want us to answer the question.
C: Do you think so?
Editor’s note: Yes, yes we do want you to do this!
J: That was a question, so [next question] ‘What’s the first memory of each other in school?’
C: OK, eighth grade dance. “Stairway to Heaven,” and probably we went into the bathroom and someone was in there crying. Or several girls were in there crying.
J: I didn’t cry, usually.
C: Not me either. Still don’t. So then in high school we were inseparable.
J: And we dated best friends of each other.
C: Yes, but never the same person ever.
J: No, we never dated the same person as each other.
C: Your eyes looked at me so weird. And then?
J: There’s a really embarrassing moment. I–
C: Lost your virginity when I was in the room? Is that where we’re going? I don’t know if that can be in the magazine.
J: Right next to you
C: Right next to me. I mean, not in the same bed.
J: It did last about for about 4 seconds.
C: It wasn’t in the same bed or anything. But I was in the same room for sure. But I think, yeah, once high school hit, we’ve been inseparable ever since. We have some really, deeply personal things that we’ve helped each other through that we cannot say.
J: We are saying it.
C: No.
J: Yes, we are. They like funny, though? OK, so ‘What is your favorite memory from college?’
C: Oh boy, I don’t remember college. No, I’m just kidding. Wow, there’s a lot of them. Did you remember freshman year when we were on bunkbeds and we thought like it looked like a potato masher?
J: Yes. You know bunkbeds when you’re on the bottom bunk there’s metal up top? So we were together on the bottom bunk, laughing our faces off, because—
C: We were probably high.
J: No. Yes. Well, we imbibed in some fungi. I kept saying ‘it seems like we’re potatoes that are gonna be mashed!’ Because it looked like a potato masher.
C: And then someone knocked at the door and we both froze.
J: No, remember I yelled at a guy.And I wasn’t like that, usually.
C: You’re very even-keeled. Until you’re not.
J: Until I’m not. But somebody came to the door with Cheetos and I said, ‘We don’t want no effin’ Cheetos!’ and he’s like, ‘Oh, OK.’
C: ‘I was just trying to be a nice fella.’
J: And then we laughed and we laughed and we laughed and we laughed.
C: For, like, 12 hours straight.
J: I really liked going to the Hamptons. We were together a lot. Christine went to Johnson and Wales, I went to UMass Lowell. And we were at each other’s places all the time. I pretty much—
C: Yeah, you were like an honorary sorority member. So, I was in Phi Sigma Sigma. And there was another sister that looks somewhat like Jenn (Laurie) and so Jenn sometimes got to go to events. Especially, actually, after college—remember we are at the one there was like, a hazing, but we didn’t haze, but we kind of did?
J: I didn’t do that.
C: No, but you got to go to an event where there were pledges.
J: I can blend.
C: Yeah. But not to be confused with the friend blend, because we love that, too. We were like chameleons.
J: In college I would just–whoever Laurie was dating– I would make out with, just to take one for the team.
C: I should have been on that trajectory, but I wasn’t.
J: I’ll do it, I’m a good friend like that. '
C: Yeah. You are.
J: No, You know I would never do that.
C: Why didn’t you make me a good friend like that? I just got stuck in that saaaaaaame. Thing.
J: What’s that song by Gwen Stefani? “That Same Old Love.”
C: What’s next?
J: Adult life? What’s our favorite memory?
C: Oh my God I don’t even know. I would probably say Atlantis the first time. When we went just you and I.
J: Oh my God! 2016. Christine and I went to Atlantis in the Bahamas together, and it was—
C: The first time I have been away with you since we were in Naples, Florida in high school. Because I wasn’t allowed out ... that probably was one of the best times. And we always have the best luck. We met this guy who was—
J: He had pants up to his nipples.
C: Yes, he had dad jeans that were, like, the worst dad jeans that I had ever seen. But … he got us into this pool there.
J: At the Cove. If you’ve never been there, go with your girlfriend. It’s so fun.
C: The best party ever…There was a guy there that was on “The Bachelor.”
J: And he was super hot.
C: Super hot. And he pulled Jenn aside. And you know, I was married.
J: No, you were married, unhappily.
C: Yes, but the guy said to Jenn, ‘How married is she?’
J: And I said, ‘She’s pretty married.’
C: ‘She’s married. Otherwise she would love to make out with you.’
J: Yeah I did maybe say that.
C: And low and behold. If I had only known then what I know how.
J: Yeah, I know, geezus.
C: What about you, what’s your favorite?
J: That was my favorite vacation, too, but Saint Pete’s Beach was pretty lit.
C: Oh my God.
J: We just came back from vacation together. I just talked to my Nana, who was 91 years old.
C: I loved Nan.
J: And she said, ‘Always go on vacation with your girls.’
C: Which she always has, right? She always went on cruises
J: Hawaii, Alaska. Every place she’s been with her girls. She would go with like 10 girls ... My grandfather always said, ‘Go!’
C: I love that. That’s super important. And I do want to say one of my other most favorite memories with you, as horrrrrrific as it was, was the 2018 marathon. Because you literally carried me.
J: Oh, yeah. That was my first marathon
C: No, but for real. That was your first marathon, was my first after Devin died, and I was separated and restraining orders and it was a monsoon and you were by my side the entire time. To go across the finish line without Devin there, but to have you there, was like—you got me there.
J: And there’s a great picture of us holding hands as we passed the finish line, which is one of my favorites.
C: Also, I had Owen and Brendan in the car and they were playing summer jams and they were playing Jay Z “Run This Town” and I said, ‘Do you guys remember when Auntie Jenny and I made–’ and they were like, ‘The video on the treadmill.’
J: We were trying to re-create, because we are the Brady and Gronk–
C: of something. We’re the GOATS of something.
J: We’re the GOAT rodeo.
C: Oh my God, yes! Perfect segue! My friend just told me this thing—I know this isn’t a part of our question, but we have to—I have to say this: GOAT rodeo is one of the best things I’ve ever heard.
J: But I feel like a GOAT rodeo to me when it’s a shit show night out.
C: It is. It’s any type of chaos where things are all over the place.
J: We should look it up on Urban Dictionary. Next question.
Editor’s Note: We looked it up. Christine is right. But Christine said it with less “fucks” in the online definition.
J: Alright, next question. ‘The dumbest comment anyone has ever made to you about your friendship?’
C: ‘Do you guys hook up?’
J: Oh!
C: Yes, literally.
J: I forgot about that.
C: That’s not the first thing that you would’ve said?
J: No.
C: Oh my God
J: That gets asked.
C: So many times. And we never have. Not even like stupid drunk, whatever.
J: No, I don’t think we’ve ever made out.
C: We’ve never made out nor have we made out with the same person.
[whispers]
C: Well. That one person. Okay. Yeah, that was my fault.
J: No, I mean, I set you up with somebody that I dated because I thought it was a good idea.
C: It was a way different time frame when that happened, like, 20 years later.
J: Any who … You.
C: You’re not interviewing me. What’s your answer to that question?
J: Oh! If we go away with a lot of people … we are in sync a lot and we want to do the same thing and we want to be together, not in a sexual way, but together. We’re just in sync.
C. We sleep in the same bed.
J: We like to go running in the morning. We like to exercise on vacation. We like to drink a lot. We just go with the flow. It’s about balance.
C: Ebb and flow, yeah.
J: Do you want to get an IV? Do you want to drink too much, then get an IV? Yes, all of it. Yep. Go running totally hung over and barf on the side of the road? Yes. So I think the dumbest comment, making a long story longer, is ‘You guys are obsessed with each other.’ That’s what I’ve heard a few times.
C: Don’t hate us cause you ain’t us
J: I think it’s the Boston accent.
C: Don’t hate us cuz you ain’t us.
J: That sounds like anus. Oops.
C: I thought that, too, when I said it.
C: Don’t drain us.
J: Now. What about my anus? Scratch that. Sorry, Marci and Bridget.
Editor’s note: No apologies. We’re just going to clean up the coffee that came out of our nose.
J: Okay. [next question] ‘What has not changed at all about the other since you were young?’ So you’re, you’ve always been, in my opinion, a positive person. Like, you gleen positivity. Even through the shittiest shit ever. And you are still like that. Even more so now than you ever were.
C: Thank you. You are. I mean, funny has never changed. You’ve always been super funny, but you are also such a loyal friend, literally to everyone and anyone ... Vacations? You made those happen ... I just say, ‘Yes. Book my trip. Tell me what I owe you and I’ll meet you at the airport.’ And it doesn’t even matter, but with any of your friends. So you have always been such a good, good friend. To everyone.
J: Thank you.
C: You’re my backbone.
J: I think showing up is a huge part of friendship and give and take and all of that. And I think that’s a huge part of our friendship.
C: Yeah, totally. I called Jenn 2 weeks ago when I was at the doctor’s and I was like, ‘Oh, by the way? You’re my health care proxy.’
J: No, I’m 6 people’s health care proxies.
C: I mean, it also helps that she’s a nurse. But, you know more than most anyway.
J: I drink and I know things.
[next question] ‘What do you find in your relationship that you don’t find in other relationships?’
C: Literally everything. What do you mean?
J: Snuggles
C: Snuggles, yes. You’re always my person. You’re my person. I call you. I know it’s a little different. You have a husband.
J: And I have it. I have an answer.
C: Okay, go.
J: To never. Ever. Run out of things to talk to you about,
C: Right?
J: Ever.
C: It’s the craziest thing. Typically, we’ll talk on the way to get together on the phone. Yeah, whoever’s in the car. And then usually we have to recap after. And the whole time we’re on vacation, we talk non-stop.
J: You would think there’s a little comfortable silence, but we usually don’t. Unless Christine is super hung over.
C: Then I need a minute, but I only really need a minute.
J: You’re like, ‘Stick an IV in me.’
C: Yeah, and I’m good to go. But that’s what I told you before that. Like with Joe, I talk about you all the time. He must be like, ‘Geezus Christmas.’
J: He Must be like, ‘Do you guys hook up?’
C: I know. Yeah. You’re just obsessed. Obsessed!
J: [question] ‘Was there ever a phase you went through that the other tried to get you out of? Bad haircut, music, or something bigger, like a horrible boyfriend?’
C: Oh, my God. I mean, I think we could both say many things about this? You had horrible boyfriends for a while. Remember the guy? We’ll call him “Shat.”
J: Oh, I know who you’re talking about.
C: I won’t say his last name, but he definitely, I think, swung for the other team. Jenn liked him. But otherwise, I mean, I really didn’t say anything except you went out with someone for a long time who I thought was not the best for you.
C: Going back to Shat, I took him to a party once at Kim’s house. Oh. And her gay uncles were like, ‘Oh, my God, the fresh meat!’
J: I didn’t take a clue. I was in my early 20s. I had no idea.
C: You were just going after whatever you could.
J: Okay, calm down.
C: It’s okay, I did it in my 40s.
J: After the same big douche bag.
C: I know. Terrible. I don’t think they can print douche bag. So you can omit that and put.
J: D-bag.
C: What about what me?
J: Okay. So obviously like we’ll talk a little bit about because the readers don’t know about our huge history.
C: Oh yeah.
J: In 2007, I was engaged and Christine was my maid of honor, and we planned the wedding and everything was going great.
J: So I was with somebody for a years and it was great. And Christine, this was like one of the only guys Christine liked
J: Right. So his name was Jay and he was he was a just a big life.
C: Life of the party.
J: Good, funny. Loved to be inappropriate. You used to say the phrase ‘I’m funny, right?’
C: Yes.
J: Yes. And so we were 4 months away from the wedding and I knew that something was wrong. He always answered his phone. We l just had we had a good relationship and we talked about everything. I am still close with his family. His family is amazing. And he struggled with depression and anxiety. I’m a big advocate for people with mental illness. I work with people with mental illnesses. And I was at work. I was a nurse manager for a psychiatric unit for adults and adolescents. And he wasn’t answering his phone, which was abnormal.
And I went to his house and found him. And he had taken his life. And it was the most traumatic experience of my life to date. And hopefully ever.
But my friends. I mean, it was just an out-of-body experience just because it was so quick and awful and everything is just gone from your life in a second. And I called 911. And I was ... I just fell to the floor. I was. I was just breathless, I think, is the way that I can describe it. It is still traumatic because years and years of flashbacks of that very moment. And I think, when you have PTSD.. [you] have those flashbacks for a long time. And I had a lot of guilt. What could I have done? I knew that that people are depressed. I should have seen more signs. I should have known. And it took me years of therapy to figure out that it wasn’t me that could have saved him. We were pretty open and honest with each other, but his demons were too big for me to see and he hid them.
C: He didn’t let you know.
J: Yeah. And I think people that commit suicide and take their own life oftentimes if they if there’s a cry for help, then they want help. But if there isn’t, then sometimes there’s no— Always reach out to people. I did reach out. Many people did. And there was no ... there were just no signs ... And it taught me how to seek help myself because I have a hard time with that. So I had to go to therapy. I had to rely on my friends. I was like a little debilitated for a little while. I mean, I did some … I had such a wonderful group in Newburyport of friends, and you were at my house and Kim was at my house and they were, like, in my bed.
C: Owen was 6 weeks old and we just stayed with you for three weeks straight. It was the most horrible experience ever ... when we did our podcast and you talked about it on that episode, for me, to watch you retell that story was really heartbreaking and heavy. Because, I know your story. I lived it with you ... But I had never really heard you tell the story. I know all the facts, I know all the things. But to hear you tell the story from start? We feel each other’s pain, right? I will never forget Steve is the one who called me.
J: Yeah, he’s he’s one of my best friends and he’s incredible. He’s like my brother.
J: And he hurt and he’s not a crier, ever. He hurt for me in a way that was unimaginable. But you never forget and I always say this, you never forget who’s there for you. Friendships, talking about friendships. I used to remember who wasn’t there. Yeah, which isn’t right. I don’t do that anymore. Now I remember who is there ... We go through some really shitty things and we were there for each other and we know who was there for us. But when you go through good things, too, and you want to celebrate. Some people don’t show up for that. Because they’re not happy for you maybe? Or they’re going through their own storms of of being unhappy.
But I think part of friendship and part of, like, this whole thing, this whole beauty of friendship is being there... And I know it sounds cliché, but through the shitty times ... I’m your biggest cheerleader. I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy. And I know you feel that about me. Because you are. You know, a happy advocate. A happiness liaison.
C: Yeah and there’s never like an ounce of jealousy. Or one-upping. No anything.
J. No, we don’t. We don’t fight over dudes or other friends.
C: Unless they’re really shitty friends. And I will make a point.
J: Because I let everyone in and you’re like ‘No. You have to let all the stray cats in.’
C: So fast forward. Actually, prior to that 2005. When my mom battled breast cancer for a long time. And my mom was like a second mom to Jenn. And she was a warrior. So courageous, so strong, so brave. And she was. She was my person. Poor Jenn, I called–I will never forget it– at 1:30 in the morning after my mom passed away. Because you were that person that I needed to call. Which was the worst thing ever, because then you’re at home by yourself and you’re not going to go back to sleep.
J: I remember exactly where I was. I was in Newburyport.
C: Yes. I called you and could envision exactly where you were. And then I thought about it and was like, ‘I’m a terrible friend for doing that to you.’
J: Of course you would call me in the middle of the night. Of course.
C: And then in 2017—we’re a decade apart with our horrific chapters—I have 4 boys. And my youngest son, Devin, fell snowboarding and we thought he got a concussion. And 5 days later he was throwing up. I took him to the emergency room. We found out he had a rare brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, which is also referred to as DIPG. And there are 0 survivors. So we were told when he was 6 years old that he had 8 months to 2 years to live. Out of nowhere.
There’s nothing, nothing. No warning, nothing to prepare you for that. Nothing that could have eased you into something like that ... And you were the first person I called. And Devin and [Jenn’s daughter] Molly were close ... they were almost 2 years apart.
J: Yeah, their birthdays were a week apart.
C: So I’ll never forget we came home from the hospital that first time after he was diagnosed and we went into the back room and cried together … you were were my person.
J: And I just remember you being at the hospital. Devin was laying on you all the time and you were always there. And I would go see you.
C: Yeah, all the time. Yeah. I mean, he was only in the hospital for those 3 weeks. But you came in often. I never, never left.
J: And I remember you just wanted to shampoo your hair.
C: I know. And then someone came in and did it for me … it was like such a game changer, which sounds so vain, but I hadn’t showered in days. And then, you know, we brought Devin home and you were there around the clock. And Devin died ... right after Molly’s birthday.
J: Devin passed away very early in the morning on October 20th.
C: But you were there instead of with Molly. And then 2 months after that, I separated from my now ex-husband, which had been a horrible, horrible relationship for many years. And you know—we’ll say this forever—’He broke every vow but he never cheated on me.’ And you would say ‘Yeah.’ You never said more than that. You never prompted me. You were always there. And then we were training for the marathon … And people would always say ‘Do you guys cry when you run?’ We laughed.
J: It was therapeutic.
C: It was our therapy. I mean, we would run 21 miles together and laugh and talk all the shit through and find the funny.
J: Find the silver lining. And I know that I didn’t, you know, I sort of had an intuition that what was happening in her marriage. I didn’t say anything because I do think people have to find their own way. I didn’t have proof and that would have been a shitty thing to say. I found out later in a terrible way. But I think that you needed to find out the way that you did.
C: Yeah. So, yes, it did happen my entire marriage and I didn’t know. But yes, I think everything happens for a reason ... I’m a big believer in that. I know you sometimes go back and forth with that, but ...
J: It’s very hard for me to grasp … I have a hard time with religious views. I do believe there’s a higher power. But it’s hard for me to grasp how children are taken … That’s really hard. And I know that you went through it. Like, what I went through was something that somebody had control over. Right? But the way Devin passed away was something I just feel like I don’t get. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around.
C: Yeah, and I agree, but I feel like, you can’t control what happens, but you can control the way you react.
J: React and respond.
C: He changed so many things, right? This is a whole other deep, deep conversation. But I just think that he changed so many things. He moved the needle on this disease that has no cure. I mean, Neil Armstrong’s daughter died of it two years before he walked on the moon. And Elon Musk can go to the moon in a day. Right? I just think that yes, it was the most horrific thing imaginable. But put that aside. And there were so many positives.
C: Good things.
J: Humanity came together. The whole community came together. The whole state. Boston. And I mean, everybody came together for this little boy.
C: Yeah. So that was amazing. And I, I certainly do have faith in humanity, even though if you watch the news, you will just hear bad things, which is why I never watch the news.
J: Never watch the news. If you want to believe in humanity, there’s actually a good Instagram—
C: Shenanigans? Is that what it is?
J: @she_naniganspodcast. But there is a podcast called “The Good News Movement.”
C: Oh, I love that. That’s so cool. How come you haven’t told me that?
J: I thought I did. No? Okay, well, write it down.
C: But I also think–and this is the last thing I’ll say–I can’t say this to a lot of people, but I because of losing Devin, and I have 3 other sons, it gave me the strength to leave a bad marriage and to show my surviving boys [my ex-husband’s actions] that’s not okay.
J: I know. You’ve become a totally different person as far as ... your belief in yourself, your faith in yourself and how strong you are. That has completely changed. Even if you look at pictures of yourself.
C: Oh, I didn’t look good. My eyes were like—
J: You were vacant. And not just when Devin was sick. Obviously, that’s understandable. But in your marriage.
C: When you just said, ‘how strong you are,’ it made me think of the video with Devin.
J: I know!
C: ‘Do you know how strong you are? How really, really strong?’ Maya Angelou.
J: Yes, Maya Angela. And we actually sang that all around Atlantis.
C: Yes, we did. Yes. And that was before anything. Yeah.
J: [next question] ‘Funniest story you want readers to hear on the podcast?’ We actually have a ... really funny and inappropriate, if you like inappropriate, “Dirty Little Secrets.” Season 2, Episode 12 will be really funny. But the funniest stories we had are both high school and college days. So that’s season 1, I think. Episode 3. But, you know, just listen to them all.
J: Okay. ‘When you were each going through these horrific experiences what was the one thing that only you could do for each other?’
C: Oh, wow ... I will say, I don’t like to cry. I call you when I’m crying or about to cry. But you actually make me feel okay about crying. You tell me I have to cry. And then you make me laugh and get me out of it.
J: With inappropriate commentary. [next questioin] ‘Do we have a phrase, song or something that brings us to center?’
C: [starts singing] I mean … we have our amazing songs from Molly.
J: See, which is the next question!
C: Segue! So Molly, her very talented daughter that we just mentioned, who was friends with Devin, she’s 9 years old … and she wrote a couple songs for us. So in season 1, she wrote that first song and her dad helped her with the ukulele. But in the second song and the second season, she plays the ukulele by herself.
J: And then she did mention she wrote another song, which I have heard. Yeah. So she wrote the lyrics to both songs.
C: Which is pretty incredible … I only have boys, so she is like, you know, my little lady also. And I think she has some of my genes. Like, she likes shopping.
J: She does. Yeah.
C: And I love shopping. Jenn does not like shopping.
J: So, I mean, I’ll shop if I’m drunk.
C: Yeah. I would shop 24/7. But that she wrote a song about our friendship I think is just one of the coolest things ever.
J: And she has a little friend named Abby. And like they remind me of us.
C: Yeah.
J: Except they’re both blonde.
C: I’m a wannabe blonde.
J: Molly’s inspiration is Grace VanDerWaal.
C: Oh, yeah. Yes, she loves Grace, but Molly’s actually better.
J: Did you see Stargirl 2?
C: Nope. Didn’t see Stargirl 1.
J: Riveting. [question] ‘Do you ever argue?’
C: Very, very few times.
J: But that’s it.
C: One was before 9/11. Yes. And we made up on 9/10.
J: Right. And Christine lived in New York City.
C: Yeah. So I couldn’t get a hold of her. And I was thankful that we met up the night before 9/11.
C: Me, too.
J: And it was over, I think, a dude.
C: It was a dude. Was that it? It was, yeah. A dude that you dated that I didn’t like.
J: Oh, he was selfish.
C: Yeah.
J: Controlling. We’ll call him “Piss.” [laughing] Shat and Piss!
C: [lauighing] That’s amazing. Amazing. Wait. I mean, we haven’t argued that much more. More now that I’m diagnosed with–
J: ADHD. We just know that she’s late all the time. So, Sarah Silverman, I follow her podcast, and she has a best friend who’s always late, chronically late. She just talked about it a few weeks ago, and she was like, ‘Listen, I have a friend who’s chronically late and it’s super annoying and I get used to get so pissed off about it. But now I’m just like, this girl is chronically late, so I’m just going to like, plan that she’s going to be here at like 7:30, even though she said 4:30.’
C: I don’t ever mean to. And I know it comes, like, for a lot of people, it comes across as rude and disrespectful. It’s never that way. I’m just in a million directions. Which really makes sense. You would think now that I’m medicated, it would like reel it in a little bit, but I just have 8 million things going on at one time.
J: Mm hmm.
C: Love you.
J: Love you as well. Mm hmm.
J: [next question] “Tell us about the data you found that gives some science behind friendship.” And I can. I can speak to that. Can you?
C: I know you’re the data girl.
J: So friendships and love and affection and all of that … release hormones.
[sound of wine bottle opening in the background]
So the hormone responsible for love and affection with the loves of your life and your friendships is called oxytocin. And that, like, is all about trust and all about affection and love. And that’s the hormone that’s released, literally.
C: I love it.
J: Oxytocin, dopamine, all of it.
C: Do you remember when we went to one of the marathon expos and we were ...
J: I know.
C: It’s terrible.
J: The wine is good, right? Just trying.
C: We were dying, laughing, and we just were going, ‘We didn’t eat gummies!’ I laugh harder with you than I’ve ever laughed in my life. I mean, I guess you’ve made me laugh for most of my life, but you make me laugh harder than ever.
J: Right?
C: Which is why people probably think we’re annoying.
J: So hugging. Friendship. Love. Trust.
C: I taught Jenn how to hug. Jenn did not like hugging.
J: I don’t know if you want that to be your marketing, because if other people hug me, they’re going to be like, ‘She’s not good at it.’
C: I love hugging so much. I hug everyone all the time. Jenn used to do the most like noncommittal hug. It was like T-Rex arms that would just tap you behind your back or your arms, like in a place that no one ever wants to be touched.
C: But now you embrace.
J: I do know. I’m working on it. I’m working on hugs. The other thing I wanted to say about friendship and happiness is it’s scientifically proven that happiness is contagious.
C: Oh, totally.
J: So when you hang around happy people and inappropriate people, you become happier and more inappropriate.
C: Those are two things that everyone should be.
J: So spread your happy. Oh, that’s not a dirty share.
C: I like ‘spread your happy.’ ‘Sprinkle with happiness.’
J: Sprinkle that shit with happiness, it’s contagious.
C: And I think that’s it. We hope that you enjoy our impromptu liveness. There’s nothing better than a good friendship ... I couldn’t do without you.
J: I couldn’t do it without you either. So love you.
C: Thanks for being my sister.
J: Thank you for being my sister.
C: I love you. Cheers.
