Dan Kohlhepp's Birthday Toast

A Birthday Toast
to
Jayne Marie Parrott Magee
on her
Sixtieth Birthday
April 10, 2009

The Literary Reference
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
Juliet, Romeo and Juliet


The Set-up
In the early 1990’s Jayne and I worked together in Doctor Lewis’s converted veterinary clinic at 415 East DuBois Street, and we had adjoining offices with the door between us always open. Thus, I was able to hear Jayne explain on many occasions who she was to dunder-headed people on the other end of the phone:

“Jayne like Mansfield;

Parrott like the Bird;

Magee, M-A-G-E-E.”

For my own amusement, I would replay Jayne’s response in my head and tried to find a suitable finish for her simile trifecta. “Jayne like Mansfield, Parrot like the bird, Magee like Gary? No, too confusing. Like Greg? No, too obscure. Like Garth? No, Really obscure. Like HK? I don’t think so.

Over the years, I got to know Jayne and her family better. While Jayne was like her mother and father, I realized Jayne was like her daughter, Meghan. She was also like her daughter Amanda. In fact, she was very much like her sons Gabriel and Galen. So I finally had my similes and her toast.


The Toast

Here’s a toast to Jayne Marie Parrott Magee, our friend:

To Jayne, like her mother’s best friend who battled polio and today survives as a tribute to the power of the human spirit;
To Marie, like her mother, Ruth Marie, who is a touchstone for her life’s realities;
To Parrott, like the man her mother loved and the father who raised her;
To Magee, like the spirits of her progeny, Meghan, Amanda, Gabriel, and Galen, who carry her dreams, passions and many kindnesses; and
To our friend, like the person we thank for making us smile and our lives richer!


Happy Birthday!