Once upon a time, in 2002, I met a beautiful woman name Lana Malaise at the Lincoln Trail cafeteria. I was there to have lunch with my oldest daughter, Iman and she was there to have lunch with her oldest daughter, Tori Trout.
I was still pretty new to the community and was going through a divorce. It was Lana who reached out to me and introduced herself. It turned out that our girls were already friends. I found out that Lana and her two daughters Tori and Leslie, moved from Florida to Mahomet with her new husband. I also found out that she and her family were church-going family.
Lana is white American and a strong Christian, and I am Pakistani, born into a different religious belief.
Also, back then my broken English wasn’t good. Between us, though, nationality, religion, race and language were never an issue. It has been 14 years since we met, and I am looking forward to getting old with her. Yes, we met because of our girls, but we kept our friendship going even after our girls finished high school.
Where do I begin writing about this beautiful woman? First of all, I feel blessed and lucky to have a friend like Lana. The more I got to know her, the more I enjoyed her. And I am not just saying this;I have seen that she truly cares about other people. I am proud to say that she is a perfect example of a good Christian.
Lana was also a single mother for a while, so she truly understands how a single mom’s life is with the kids. She is someone who will never judge you, but try to understand and go out of her way to help you out. I have had countless episodes when I so needed a shoulder to cry or someone just to be there, and every single time, there she was.
In the last fourteen years, Lana and I have gone through lots of ups and downs, from raising teenage girls to my mother’s sickness and death, and many more life issues. She is not selfish at all.
She will change her plans if someone really needs her. That happened to me, and later on I found out she had plans with her family. When I asked her, “Why did you change your plans?” her answer was “This was more important.”
Later on, Lana had two more daughters, Shelby and Christy, and they both grow up right in front of me. All four of Lana’s daughters are very beautiful, sweet, respectful, caring and loving like their mother.
Her husband’s name is Rene Malaise. What a great guy he is. I don’t have a brother, but if I did, I wish he would be just like Renee. He is very down to earth, humble, caring, nice, soft spoken and willing to help anytime. Since I met him, which is many moons ago. Rene has been my handy man. I don’t have to think twice; I can just call or text him, and he is always available to help.
We all of us Lana and her family and us didn’t just welcome each other our hearts but also into our homes. When anything happening in their home, we were invited, and when anything happened to my place, they were the first people to get the invitation. In other words,
we become one big happy family.
Since both of my girls’ colleges are far from home, most of the time I am by myself. It wasn’t just on special occasion here and there Lana said to me, “If you don’t have any plans, come me join us.” She wasn’t feeling pity or sorry for me, she simply asked me like any family member would ask. We have spend countless days together and have traveled far away, too.
Last Thanksgiving was their last Thanksgiving here in Mahomet. My girls and I went to their home and we had Thanksgiving together.I am hoping our story doesn’t end here because Lana and her family moved back to Florida on June 3. Of Course I am going to miss all of them a lot. But I am really happy for them. And we will visit each other for sure and continue our friendship.
In life we meet so many people, but not everyone stays with us. But there are some very special people who will always stay with you. Lana and her family are some of those special people. I love each of you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of my and my girls’ life. Friends forever! 