You've Got a Friend: In Memorium

Remembering Joelle Cherry Trombetta

June 2018

Even when we were little kids, I could tell Joelle was a triple threat. She had an amazing laugh, could play the piano like a pro, and sang Whitney Houston songs IN KEY. She could belt out all the notes in, “The Greatest Love of All.”

We met in nursery school, what we now call pre-school, but in those days it was in someone’s basement, not a classroom, however, we learned the same skills back then, mostly sharing, taking turns, that sort of thing. She wore bright pink nail polish one day and I was amazed. She must be grown up! Well, when you’re a little kid, a one-year age gap makes all the difference. But then, I didn’t see her for a while. She was diagnosed with diabetes when we were very young. One day, Mrs. Cherry and Joelle popped over to our house when she was feeling better. Joelle and I reconnected and started hanging out pretty much every day after school. LuAnn, her sister, hugged me on arrival, “Little buddy!” she called me.

Catch and Release

We all know that Joelle loved every animal under the sun. As a child, she had Zerra the cat, Toto the tiny dog, baby rabbits, and many more loved pets over the years. I think maybe she didn’t love fish. I say this only because when we were about 10 years old, we fashioned fishing rods out of long sticks, with fishing wire and hooks, and fished in the pond next to my house. We had one rule. If I caught a fish, Joelle would unhook it and release it back to the pond. When she caught one, I did the same. So we were ultimately thrilled and immediately grossed out when one of us caught a fish.

Roller Rink Quarter Pipe

During the 1980’s a few things were big in our lives, Chakka Khan, Madonna, and roller skating. We spent many hours in my driveway skating away to our favorite tunes and sneaking onto my brother’s skateboard ramp he built in the driveway. We again had a little rule. If one person fell hard and maybe skinned a knee, the other person promised to be quiet for a minute because for some reason hearing the words, “Are you ok?” brought tears or more searing pain. This also applied to major falls off of a bike, one in which required stitches to my head.

Waffles and Ice Cream

Mrs. Cherry was always the center to the house. When she wasn’t teaching and tutoring everyone’s children, she was giving us helpful advice and serving as a sounding board for our countless questions. In the summers, the Cherry’s ran a waffle and ice cream stand across from the Cape May Beach. To this day, the smell of waffles cooking in the waffle iron, brings back delicious memories.

Bed n Breakfast

The great thing about living in Cape May are the many summer jobs one could have. As teens at the end of the school year, Joelle and I nervously rang the doorbell of a bed and breakfast in a historic Victorian home and as luck would have it, they needed help. The owners hired us on the spot! We greeted guests, baked cookies for afternoon tea, and got the rooms ready for special occasions. They didn’t have kids yet and Tracy took a shine to us, and fully trusted us with their treasured home and business while they occasionally took off on their boat with the dog for the afternoon. When one of us couldn’t make it to work, Mindy filled in. The owners of the Sand Castle invited us to our first outdoor concert when the Beach Boys were in Wildwood and even let us each have a beer on the beach like adults. At Christmas that year they lent us the house for an underage party they let us throw, naively trusting that our friends wouldn’t trash the place. Like good hostesses we served appetizers and desserts and cleaned up after our guests. We roped Jamie in to drive us to and from the party. We were always scheming!

Fruit of the Loom

At Halloween, we loved dressing up more than getting the candy. But we were stumped for costume ideas. We wanted to go trick or treating and my mom said we had to have costumes and someone brought up the Fruit of the Loom characters. Joelle and I were grapes, Amy was a banana, and Crystal was the red apple. House after house, people were delighted and surprised by the grown up trick or treaters. Amy, with her banana costume, was over 6 feet tall. But they laughed and kind of loved it. Except one guy. He said, “There’s no banana in the Fruit of the Loom!” and questioned our ages and height. He had a point. The Fruit of the Loom logo didn’t have a banana. But this did not stop Joelle from making an observation. “Well there’s always ONE banana in your Fruit of the Looms!” and we went along our merry way, howling with laughter.

Hear Her Voice

Joelle was into so many activities in high school, from singing in choir, playing violin and guitar in Mr. J’s strings class, to acting in key roles at the school's annual play. But she was also passionate about the environment, prompting friends to join the student environmental association (SEA) group to spread the word about eco-challenges our world faces. Joelle was also an adamant supporter of equal rights, for girls and women, boys and men, the LGBTQ community. Her passions were numerous and it’s no surprise she was voted Class Philosopher by her graduating class.

And...Scene

Joelle and I spent a lot of time together as kids; swimming, watching soap operas after school, playing Barbies with dramatic scenes cut from the lines of these soaps, riding our bikes, falling off said bikes, performing stunts, and occasionally dancing in the rain, which prompted Mrs. Cherry to yell worriedly and hurry us away from sudden death from lightning.

Joelle’s innate talent, coupled with her flare for drama, led her to Philadelphia, where she honed her performance skills. When we reconnected after high school, I was so excited to learn that she took classes in Sword Combat, and I began to question my decision to major in English and sit in classroom lectures.

As many childhood friendships go separate ways, ours did too, but I know that Joelle met many amazing, creative people along her path, and I hope that I hear your stories. Although I only met Jason, her husband once, I could tell that he was smitten and a great match for our girl.

Joelle always found the beauty and humor in situations and I was lucky to be part of the laughs. At her final curtain call, please also find the beauty and humor in Joelle’s memory. Share stories. Laugh loud. Sing Whitney Houston song’s at the top of your lungs.

Thank You