Incidentally, that picture, which is a good likeness, was drawn by her niece, who is obviously a very talented artist.
Anyway, last summer we were chatting and Jess mentioned that she was thinking about applying for a PA job at the local university. If you didn’t happen to know, Jess trained as a teacher, specializing in early elementary, and by all accounts was very good at it. When she moved back to England from Wales, to be near her family, she of course had to quit and hadn’t found another job yet.
I encouraged her to go after the job, my thinking being that it would be good for her to get out more and meet some new people. She did, and didn’t get the job but, they offered her a different part-time one which she took. Jess, being Jess, did a superlative job and soon she was telling me that she had been asked to fill in with a senior university official while his PA was on maternity leave.
While all this was going on she was maintaining her blog (if you don’t read All along the Watchtower you’re missing one of the great Christian blogs) and writing at least one post a day herself. We all know how hard that can be, so we understand that it’s more than it sounds like. She also as we kept conversing became my dearest friend, the one that I take all my problems to. And yes, behind the scenes, she’s exactly like she is on the blogs.
This was pretty close to the time when I was having some internet problems, and I asked Jess to cover me here, which she did wonderfully well. Which she did again while I was gone at Christmas, and last month when I was gone for my sister’s funeral. As she took on some other authors, we hoped that she would be able to write more here, which has not been possible, but not through any fault of hers.
You see the PA job was made permanent for her, as near as I can tell her boss has told her several times that she is the best PA he ever had, which surprised her, I think, although it didn’t me. One thing that I envy greatly is that when she publishes here, I, of course, see the corrections and edits. Well that would be true if there were any, apparently she sits down and writes perfectly. Wish I did!
And so, we get to this week, and the Saga of Jessica continues, she had told me a bit ago that she had an evaluation coming up, she, in fact was slightly worried, as we all tend to be, and I told her that I thought she had nothing to worry about.
Boy, was I right.
She had her evaluation this week and I think they like her. She got promoted to an administrative position, with a raise that is a multiple of the salary I started my working life with.
And so, Jessica is a modest girl, who doesn’t like to blow her own horn, so I’m blowing it for her, as she sets off on a new phase of her great adventure. I keep telling her that I’m soon going to be saying, “I knew her when.” But, you know, one of the charming things about her is that she is as loyal as the day is long, and time permitting she will be contributing here as long as this blog (which we have come to call “our blog”) exists.
And I’m not sure how long I would last either without her help here, either.
In case, you haven’t figured it out, I am very, very proud of her, and very proud that she is my friend.
In fact, she reminds me a good bit of Kate Hepburn in our Saturday feature, Beautiful, Brainy, Educated, Godly, and talks with a funny Akzent, 
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find True Grit, Jess, so this will have to do.