It has been 1095 days since Heaven gained our Angel. We miss our Jeanine Renee Baker more than words can say. There hasn't been a day in those 1095 days that I haven't thought about her.
Jeanine was an Earth Angel while she was here. I remember admiring her style, her laugh, and her amazing clothes from afar. One day before starting my shift at AT&T I was waiting in line at the lunch counter for my tuna melt, Jeanine was behind me waiting as well, she was wearing a pair of amazing red wedges, form fitting jean capris, a white top, and carrying a tan Coach bag (sure it may seem weird I remember what she was wearing but if you knew Jeanine you know what I mean).
She tapped me on the shoulder and said "Your eyes are so blue, are they real?" I wasn't sure if she was talking to me because why would somebody that pretty be so nice to compliment ME? I said, "Um, are you talking to me?" She responded by saying, "Girl, who do you think I am talking to the cook? Of course I am talking to you, your eyes are great, I like your make-up too." Stunned, I simply said, "Okay, thank you....I like your eyes too." Then we both started laughing hysterically....from then on out we were forever friends.
Jeanine was the kind of girl you wished you could hate. She looked like an exotic Princess Jasmine Barbie Doll, as a matter of fact I used to tell her that her feet were just like the Barbie Dolls she collected....so perfect. I swear even if she wore flats her feet looked like she was wearing heels. Her laugh was contagious and if you heard it you couldn't help but laugh yourself. Her hair was something to be envious of, always perfect. She had the most amazing EVERYTHING, purses, shoes, clothes, make-up. Jeanine had all of this, but it was nothing compared to how pure and sweet her heart was. If you were her friend, she made you feel like you could rule the world.
We had such good times together at a job I hated. Danielle, Jeanine, and I were connected at the hip. We would take turns deviating from our schedules so we could take lunches together (sorry Jean Casey if you are reading this). We played Uno and put customers on mute to cuss at them for being mean. Jeanine would walk in on Saturday mornings when our start time was 4 am and look like she just stepped out of a salon.
One of my favorite memories was one day when I pulled into the AT&T parking lot, I drove by a HUGE sparkly white Yukon and I saw Jeanine standing in the back of it waving and posing like a super-model in her heels and shorts.....I had never seen her smile so BIG! That infamous day after she got her brand new Yukon we decided to take our lunch at Taco Bell. Danielle and I were so happy and completely in awe how cool it was. We sang to JT on the way there and laughed and laughed.....after a fabulous Taco Bell lunch we left in good spirits and got back into the fancy ride. Houston we have a problem!!! Jeanine was in a tight parking spot and couldn't back out. That is when a random man appeared from out of nowhere and decided to help her, he directed her out of the spot like he was landing a plane. We thought we laughed on the way TO lunch.....I think we all almost peed our pants on the way back after a random man helped her. Really only Jeanine could make a random man stop what he was doing and stand in a hot parking lot to help a life sized Barbie out of her parking spot!
The day she found out she was having a baby girl she was beside herself. She came in late to work that day (which NEVER happened). She walked in with a smile from ear to ear (it was bigger than the Yukon smile) and I just knew what it meant. I had bought things for a boy and a girl so we would be covered either way and she could have a prize on her special day......when she said she was having a girl Danielle and I were just as happy as she was. I took pictures with the little girl dress and bib sitting on her stomach and her face was glowing like never before. Danielle and I both knew that was going to be the luckiest little girl in the world to have a Mama like Jeanine. Amerie only got to have her Mama for a short time, but those years she got to be a Mama were years I am sure Jeanine cherished.
Words can't express how everybody who knew Jeanine was saddened by her death. We were sad for her Mama, Mary and her daughter, Amerie. We were sad that her baby girl would never be able to remember the way she smelled or how her laugh and smile would pull you in. We were sad we wouldn't be able to get texts and phone calls out of the blue from such a special friend.
I am sure we all remember where we were when we found out Jeanine had left this earth....I remember where I was and I remember falling to my knees, crying and praying it wasn't so. I remember calling everybody I knew to see if it was true and trying to sound brave and not sad on the phone speaking to them. I remember calling her cell phone just to hear her voicemail and leaving two messages just in case the news wasn't true, because it couldn't be true....I just talked to her 5 days earlier and emailed her the day before. I remember trying to get in contact with Danielle and being so sad that I couldn't find her before the funeral. When Danielle and I finally spoke we knew we had to go see Jeanine and just be together. We visited Jeanine just the two of us and laid by her grave and laughed and cried and told story after story.....I know it meant a lot to the both of us. We both decided she was where she was meant to be in Heaven.....also on a side note you can see the Cardinal's Stadium from her grave and anytime they score a touch down, the fire works are in perfect view, she would love that.
A week before she had been gone for a year, I lost a baby. For months after I would dream of her holding my baby telling me it was all going to be okay, she had this......I believed her then and still believe her now....she has this. She has us all and watches and helps us through the hard times. We all miss her and need her, I strongly believe He needed her more.
See you on the other side sister.
