I know Janine as the girlfriend of my good friend Zenna. Two years ago, she quit her day job to sell letterpress cards that she designs and prints.
Two months before my grandmother died, I sent her one of Janine’s letterpress cards that said ‘Thanks for helping to raise me’, and I wrote a longer note inside related to that theme, and the ways she inspires me. She received many cards during her chemo treatments, and had a wicker basket where she kept them. She displayed mine beside the basket. My cousin noticed it when he visited, and was inspired to write her a similar note.
My grandmother set a fiercely optimistic example: she taught us to hope for the best outcome, but also consider what we fear is the worst outcome, and not be afraid. When I doubted whether I should apply for a fellowship, she said “What’s the worst that could happen? They say no?”. She said this a lot.
Granny submitted paperwork to renew her passport during my sister and my recent visit. She knew it was a long shot that she would be able to see her siblings in England again. What was the worst that could happen? She would die before ever using her new passport, but having demonstrated one more time how to prepare for adventures that may or may not happen.
In a similar spirit, she had ordered a whole stack of cards from Janine’s website, Kwohtations, likely thinking of who she might send them to and when. What was the worst that could happen? She would die before getting to send them. In the end, she took one of Janine’s stickers to the hospital, showing off its message, “JUST DOING THE BEST I CAN”. My mother ordered 60 more of these to distribute to loved ones in notes she is writing. After my grandmother was gone, when we found the stack of cards she had optimistically ordered, one near the top helpfully had a silly flowchart starting from the question “Am I grieving correctly?”.