This week, it’s all about our co-owner: meet Melanie!
In my eyes, Melanie is the hot glue to this operation. Without her involvement, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t know Heather, and we (Escape.) might not exist. She is our common denominator, the code to our combination, the key to our door. She’s a puzzle master and I want to tell you all about her.
If you’ve read our About Us page, you’ll already know a little of Melanie’s background… but really, who wants to know where she went to college and grew up? (But in case you do want to know, you can find that here). I’ve known Melanie for five years now and I’ll tell you, that information doesn’t do her justice because “EMU” and “Indiana” do not sound nearly as interesting as she really is. She is a lover of grape soda and all things pork… honestly, bring her meat and she’ll love you forever.
Do you know that really cool neighbor girl in the movies? The type of girl that everyone wants to be friends with because she’s cool, laid back, and carefree… the type that you could sit around the fire pit with in the backyard and talk for hours because she’s just a really good friend? Well, that’s Melanie. Melanie is the first “mom friend” I ever had and is the first reason I tell everyone that they need one. She probably knows just as much (or more) about my life than my friends do right now.
I knew I liked Melanie from the first day that I met her. I was meeting her family before I started nannying in the summer. When I got to her house, Lydia (6 at the time) was bouncing off the walls and interrupting us as we tried to get some information out of the way. Instead of scolding her, Melanie looked at Lydia and said “run upstairs and see how many times you can jump on your bed in five minutes.” I thought, cool mom.
Melanie is one of the adults I hope to be like when I grow up. I want to say she’s a mom I’d like to be just like… but when I think about it, it’s much more than that. I want to be like her as a mom, a wife, a friend, and a worker. She is passionate about what she does and works tirelessly to care for the people she loves. Although life isn’t quite ideal at the moment (working a job, owning a business, and having a family all at the same time), she accepts the challenge every day and shows up wherever she’s needed. Honestly, I’m not sure she actually sleeps.
Well, on days that she enters the building talking a mile a minute and ends her rant with “I had caffeine,” we know she doesn’t sleep much at all… and those are our favorite days. Caffeinated Melanie is unpredictable and quite honestly, the life of the party. Our motive is always to drink caffeine and get a lot done, but ironically enough, we end up doing less and laughing more. And while those are the days that I’ll look back on and cherish forever, I hope I the more notable moments are the ones that quite often, we don’t even see. I hope I remember to appreciate all the extras – the late nights working on puzzles, the behind the scenes paperwork and taxes, and all the planning – because that’s what I think makes Melanie, Melanie. She’s the hardest worker, the kindest friend, a “best friend” wife, and the type of mom that hold her kids until the tears stop.
Today is Melanie’s birthday and she’s currently driving to Indiana to, again, show up where she is needed, and this is the best way I could think to honor her in her absence. We love Melanie and we wouldn’t be able to function without her here. Happy birthday, boss lady!