By Deborah Reed

WKTV Managing Editor

deborah@wktv.org

The friendship of Wyoming women, Marilyn Emery and Carol Jennings, began in the late 1940s as they walked to kindergarten each day. That bond has only strengthened over the past seven decades, culminating in a book written by both Emery and Jennings.

Titled The Power of Friendship: Lessons Learned from Lifetime Friends, the book follows the lives and friendship of Emery and Jennings – and the lessons they have learned along the way.

The two lifelong friends recently celebrated the story of their friendship with a presentation and book signing at The Bookman in Grand Haven.

“It is our hope that many readers will receive our positive message of love, hope, and the importance of lasting friendship,” Emery and Jennings state in their book.

It is not a passive message. The women hope their story inspires others to actively seek out the kind of friendship they share.

“We want this for other people too, so they can experience what we experienced,” said Emery.

The start of forever

Both Emery and Jennings grew up in West Michigan, eventually ending up on the same block of Delwood Avenue in Wyoming. They walked to and from school together, and would often play at each other’s houses after school.

“I liked her house,” Jennings said with a laugh. “Marilyn had a big family.”

But Emery preferred playing at Jennings’ house.

“I loved to go to Carol’s because she was an only child and there was peace at her house,” said Emery.

Part of the Godfrey-Lee school district, Emery and Jennings formed the Draco Horizon Club in 8th grade. Ten of those 12 members remained forever friends.

“We were known as the group who had fun,” said Emery. “That camaraderie stayed with us throughout our whole life.”

The Draco girls were adventurous, renting a cottage overlooking Lake Michigan each summer, joyriding in Carol’s boyfriend’s car past curfew – and more.

Their adventures earned Emery and Jennings the nicknames Thelma and Lou in honor of the show Thelma and Louise.

“I loved that show,” said Jennings. “It was a friendship and a bond these two ladies had. They reminded me what Draco meant to me. The Draco’s are always there; we still get together every month in the summertime, and we talk about life.”

On the same beat

Emery said similarities in their lives (school, marriages, etc.) played a role in the women becoming such good friends. Jennings believes the Draco group was also a contributing factor, as was writing The Power of Friendship.

Together, they share a deeper connection resembling that of family.

“You can talk to other friends, but who are you going to call when you’re in need, or if you want to celebrate something together?” said Emery. “She’d call me, and I would do the same. Like you would a sister.” 

Emery and Jennings cared for each other when their parents died. When Emery’s first husband passed away in his early 50’s, Emery was left with three children to raise on her own.

“I was alone for 10 years,” said Emery. “Carol was there for me during that time.”

It comes as no surprise then, that when asked to describe Jennings in one word, Emery said: caring.

“You can’t really explain it, but you’re on the same beat with each other,” said Emery. “We figure we’re sisters. Not blood sisters, but we are sisters because we know each other so well…We just get each other.”

That deeper connection allows the women to pick up where they left off, no matter how long they might be apart.

Tragedy – and a promise

It was shortly after Emery remarried that she received a phone call that Jennings had an ischemic stroke. Emery rushed to Jennings’ side.

“All the way there, the word promise kept going through my mind, and it just wouldn’t stop,” said Emery.

Jennings’ right side was paralyzed and she struggled to walk. She could only speak one or two words in isolation due to aphasia.

But when Emery walked into her hospital room, Jennings grabbed her hand.

“A tear came down the left side,” said Emery. “And I kept thinking: promise. She didn’t look quite the same as what she did, but it didn’t matter because she was still alive.

“I said, ‘Carol, the word promise keeps coming to me, so I think we should write our life story.’ She grabbed my hand.”

Park benches, hats – and ice cream

Jennings attended therapy at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, but Emery also worked with Jennings on her speech and comprehension.

“When you have aphasia, you just don’t know what the word is,” said Jennings. “I knew what I wanted to say, but it didn’t always come out.”

“She’d be telling you something and then stop,” said Emery. “I would try to make her tell me more. She made so much progress.”

Emery and Jennings would meet on park benches at various parks. Jennings would say one or two words and Emery would write them down, then expand on them.

“She really has a knack for writing and putting the right words to what I want to say,” said Jennings.

“One of the first things I said to her was: God,” said Emery. “She said: center. So that has guided us throughout this whole book. That God brought her through the stroke, and He is the center of our lives.”

The Promised Piece, an inspirational journey of two lifelong friends, was published in 2017.

But wait – there’s more!

Shortly after The Promised Piece was released, Diane Jones, retired owner of the Carnevale Jones Group consulting firm, read it and approached Emery and Jennings.

Jones said she enjoyed the book – but knew there was more to tell.

“In meeting with the ladies, they had such a great story to tell and I thought, there’s so much missing,” said Jones. “So I asked them if they would consider doing a longer version of the book.”

Shortly after, The Power of Friendship began taking shape.

Emery and Jennings met often to discuss the book. Their meetings always included park benches, hats…and ice cream.

“I could tell when she was ready to have ice cream,” said Emery, noting that Jennings would become restless. “Then I could get more out of her while we were eating because she was happy she was having ice cream.”

Jennings added, “[The book] gave me a new purpose. I think I needed that to get better.”

Loving through friendship

When talking about her friend, Jennings describes Emery as spiritual, and has watched Emery put her faith into practice throughout their friendship.

Emery explained, “I like to say it’s a God thing. God wants us to love Him, and He also wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves.”

And they choose love through friendship.

“It’s not just about Carol and me, it’s about everybody,” said Emery, adding that she loves to hear when a reader has passed on The Power of Friendship to someone else. “We want everybody to find old friends, new friends and to keep friends. That’s our story.”

To find out more about The Power of Friendship, click here.