's motd Thurs Dec 2, 2010 - Jan Grant

[Guest guest]

JAN

Thursday, 02 December 2010

I come to you today with a very

broken heart. My longtime friend and staff member at

Slimmons, Jan Grant, passed away peacefully

on Monday evening. But I do not want to dwell on her

death. Instead, today I'm here to celebrate Jan's life.

Jan Grant was quite a special

firecracker of a lady. She had the brightest red hair

I've ever seen. And her color was totally

natural. After her bright red hair, the next

thing you noticed about Jan was her smile. It had

such a childlike quality and she could make just about

anybody laugh.

Jan was a student at Slimmons but she suffered, like

so many of us, with her weight for many years. She

had some sad things happen in her past, also like the

rest of us. And as many of you can relate to, she

often turned to food to soothe her emotions.

When we needed someone at Slimmons to work the front

desk and help with our mail orders, Jan was our lady.

She'd arrive at Slimmons early in the morning to get

the studio's students signed in for their classes.

Everyone was always so happy to see her. And when

that phone rang at the club, it was Jan who took the

call.

If someone called and asked, "How

can I get a FoodMover? I need one right away."

Well, it was Jan who took the order and made sure they

got the FoodMover, DVD or whatever else they needed...right

away! Jan took her job very seriously and

loved being at Slimmons. For one thing, she, like

all of us, got so much unconditional love at the

club.

When we needed help on one of the videos or DVDs I was

producing, we'd always add Jan to the team. She was

great on the set. When we took a break from dancing,

Jan would be there bringing us fresh platters of fruit

to snack on. After we finished dancing to a song,

she'd often come up to me and say, "You did a

great job with that number, !" (Thanks,

Jan.) Whenever we rehearsed one of my latest DVDs at

Slimmons, Jan would often join in and rehearse with

us. (What a gal!)

I had a Christmas Party for all

of Slimmons staff at my house one year. Now everybody

knows that Jan always liked to dress really casual.

But the day of the Christmas party, she rang the

doorbell and surprised us all. When I answered the

door, there she was wearing a beautiful dress and a

hat with a great big feather in it! I nearly fainted

because I didn't even recognize her for a second

there! LOL.

Some of you may have met Jan on

one of our cruises. (She just loved sailing with

us.) And some of you have met her at Slimmons or

talked to her on the phone when you called the club.

Jan has been in my life for 20 years and has helped me

do so many things. I really learned a lot about life

from knowing her.

Our students and staff are having a very rough time

handling the news of losing Jan. We're all pulling

together and comforting each other, We're also going

to have a memorial, celebrating her life. We'll do it

at the place she loved so much...Slimmons. Please

include Jan's family in your prayers today.

Jan, I know there're computers in Heaven and I know

you'll be busy typing away on one of them. But I just

wanted to say I'm going to miss you, sweetie...so

very much. You will be in my heart, forever.

Love,