November 20, 2024 • 28 mins
Can childhood bonds withstand the test of time? Join me, Leisa, as I dive into this question with our guests, Wendy Barr and Lori Cohen, who have been friends since... well, before they could even talk! With Tamara off at the winery, I’m flying solo today, and I’ve got some exciting news about my leap into stand-up comedy—thanks to a serendipitous encounter with a comedy club manager!
Wendy and Lori’s friendship is a tapestry woven from shared childhood antics and divergent adult paths. From hitchhiking adventures to spiritual journeys, these two have seen it all. Hear how their mothers' friendship set the stage for a sisterly bond that has weathered decades of change, distance, and life’s many ups and downs.
Tune in for a heartwarming episode filled with laughter, nostalgia, and the kind of friendship we all aspire to. Don’t forget to subscribe and share your own BFF stories with us!
Visit our site at howimetmybff.com
Help support our show by getting some of our exclusive swag found here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leisa (00:01):
Hey, besties. My name is Leisa
Tamara (00:03):
And my name is Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were about 12 years old growing
up in good old Fairbanks,Alaska.
Tamara (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have some
fun, friendly conversations withthe bestest of best friends.
Tamara (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met. Whoknows? You never
Leisa (00:27):
know when you'll meet your next BFF.
Tamara (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa (00:34):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF.
It's Lisa, and I'm flying soloagain. Tamara is working at the
winery and, helping peoplebecause she's an amazing person.
And I can't wait to have herback on our show when we start
recording in a couple weeks. ButI do have an update, and this is
(00:57):
this is something that happenedso happenstance, and that's just
sort of how life goes sometimes.
So for years, for many, manyyears, many, many years, people
have tell been telling me Ishould be a stand up comedian.
They're like, you're so funny.You should be a stand up
comedian. And I say, well, thankyou, but I just can't remember
anything funny that I say. So Idon't I don't think that's in my
(01:20):
future, nor do I really have adream of being a stand up
comedian.
But as luck would have it, I meta woman who is a manager of a
comedy club in Vegas, and she ishelping me. She offered
generously to help me create a,like, a 3 minute set of stand up
(01:40):
comedy. And my agreement is toperform it at an open mic night.
And so she is helping me come upwith something, and I've been
starting to remember and reallyjot down and record the like,
oh, yeah. That's funny that Isaid that.
Oh, that's funny. So, anyway, II think I I don't know when I'm
gonna get my HBO special, but Iwill at least get a spot on the
(02:05):
open mic night at least onetime. So that is my new and
exciting news. And I don't knowif I'm gonna make it public or
not. I mean, I'll share it withmy friends, but I'm not sure how
how public it'll be.
So stay tuned, besties. I amvery excited to have our guests
on the show today because one ofthe guests is my very, very good
(02:26):
friend and one of my bestfriends, Wendy, and she has been
talking about being on the showfor, I think, before it even
started. So I'm extraordinarilyexcited to meet one of her best
friends, Laurie, on the show.And welcome, Wendy and Laurie.
Hi.
Wendy Barr (02:44):
Hi.
Leisa (02:47):
So Nice to meet you. Yeah. Nice to meet you too. It's
so fun as our circles grow.Laurie, I wanna hear from you
first because I I already know alittle bit of the story from
Wendy.
So I'd love to hear yourperspective of how you and Wendy
and I won't even say becamefriends because you have such a
unique way in which you werebrought into each other's orbit.
(03:11):
So kick us off, Laurie. How didyou and Wendy meet?
Lori Cohen (03:16):
Well, our mothers were best friends in high
school, and, they raved havoc onthe streets together. And, they
stayed friends forever and ever,and we were born. So Wendy will
tell everybody that we haveknown each other since I was
(03:36):
born, since she's a year and ahalf older. There used to be a
bathtub picture of the 2 of usbabies in the tub, and she used
to take showers with me untilshe got pubes. And then she was
like, you can't take a showerwith me.
Leisa (03:55):
Okay. We were just diving in right away. Okay. Love it.
Lori Cohen (03:58):
Right away.
Leisa (04:00):
Wow. Okay. So, Wendy, do you wanna fill I know so we've
gone to a certain age, but doyou wanna fill us in on your
side of the story?
Wendy Barr (04:07):
Yes. Well, first of all, I only had one pube.
There's just the one. But still,that vetoed any interaction in
the shower. It's like, no.
Don't get don't get don't. Youdon't understand. You're
younger. So, yeah. So yeah.
And I did wanna say, that one ofthe reasons I scheduled for
(04:28):
today is that it if, it's mymom's birthday. My mom passed
away about 10 years ago. Can youbelieve it's been that long,
Laura? But, so I thought itwould be fun for Laurie and I
to, record today. But yeah.
So exactly. We met when, we werethrown together as babies and
(04:51):
the interesting thing is thatour moms grew apart and, and
later in life, I mean, they werethey saw each other every once
in a while. They were cordial,they were friendly, but they
weren't tight. And I feel likeLaurie and I stayed tight,
through our whole lives. Therewere there were little times,
like, in high school or juniorhigh that I was like, oh,
(05:14):
Laurie, you can't hang out withme and my mature friends.
You're you're too young. Youdon't understand us. And and I
would exclude her and her herfeelings, but, but then we
always found our way backtogether. Always. We were always
like sisters.
I always think of ourselves aslike we're we are as different
(05:35):
as we are alike. We are so weare exactly like sisters would
be. So I'm so grateful. I'm anonly child. So
Leisa (05:45):
So, Gloria, what what do you think you guys have in so if
you're so alike and sodifferent, like, what are some
of the things that you have thatare alike? And then let's talk
about what's different.
Lori Cohen (05:57):
I would say that growing up, we loved partying
and playing and going toconcerts. I mean, we saw them
all from Black Sabbath to LynyrdSkynyrd to the Grateful Dead. We
just went to everythingtogether. So I wouldn't say we
were I I was excludedcompletely. It was when she was
(06:20):
hanging out with boys, and Iwasn't ready for that.
And she was having fun, and Iwas like, yeah. Go have fun. But
we differently like, she's a bigbusiness person. I I work for a
band, and I'm their agent. Andshe's been wanting me to do me,
(06:42):
which is I'm I'm definitely ahealer, but I chose to work with
the band and kinda heal in thatsense.
So she's definitely big timebusiness entrepreneur, and I'm
just kinda hanging out andknowing abundance is gonna come
my way.
Leisa (07:02):
Well, that's a great belief to have, though. What a
powerful belief. And, you know,you don't have healers or I
mean, I'm a healer too, but howI do it is different. I'm not,
like, putting hands on someoneor, like, what traditionally
people would think, but I healjust because of the frequency
that I I bring to the table formy clients. They don't even know
that it's happening.
I don't even need to say thatI'm a healer. They don't need to
(07:24):
know. They just know that, oh,they feel better and they feel
more confident and all that. SoI'm imagining that you do a lot
of that for the whole crew andthe whole experience. Right?
Do you do you tell them thatthat's what you're doing, or do
you just kinda keep it on thedeal? Yeah.
Lori Cohen (07:39):
No. But they I'm a you know, people will use the
word manifest, but I'm acreator. I think it's it's a
powerful word creating. And, mysinger will sometimes be a
little negative, and I'll belike, look. I'm creating
abundance here, so just be quietand know it is.
Wendy Barr (07:58):
And,
Lori Cohen (07:58):
you know, but I also on the streets, I see somebody
broke down on the side of theroad. I send them the violet
flame, and, you know, I'm I'malways, I see a homeless person,
and I bow to them and give themlove. You know, that's healing.
So
Wendy Barr (08:16):
Wow. Lori heals every single person she comes in
contact with from her friends toher acquaintances to strangers.
And I'll tell you this fromexperience is that there is
nothing better than a hug fromLaurie. Just the way the energy
that I feel when she wraps herarms around me and the way the
way she smells always likeessential oils and love and just
(08:40):
I mean, there is nothing betterthan a hug from miss Lori. And
she's I'm the one that alwaysgoing, well, you know, try to
preserve some of your energy,Lori.
You're giving too much right nowand that's why you're healthy.
You know, like, if she's notfeeling well, I'll be like,
well, what it you know, what'sgoing on in your life? And she's
like, literally saying, I'mgiving to this person. I'm
(09:01):
giving to that person. I'mgiving to and I'm like, okay,
Laurie.
Can you just, like, hone in justfor a minute and give yourself
some of that energy because shedoesn't know when to stop
because she is just that person,that giving, loving, healing,
wonderful human.
Leisa (09:19):
Wow. That's so cool that you're helping all those people
and very thoughtful too with itand, like, intentional. I love
that. And and creating healingkinda wherever you are. That's
that's really a great way togive your gift.
I love that. What, so, Wendy,what do you what do you think
when you think about the howyou're very similar and very
(09:39):
different? What what comes tomind for you?
Wendy Barr (09:41):
Yeah. I I think Laurie kinda nailed it. I mean,
we, we both love rock and rolland concerts and, we're both
super creative. We like to play.We like to have fun.
We're both caring and giving andloving people. But then that
piece that's a little differentis that, Lori has kids. I never
(10:02):
had kids. And, and so mybusinesses that I've my
businesses have always been mybabies that I birthed. And, you
know, and so it's true thatevery time anytime Laurie was,
like, in between, like, whatshould I do with my life or
where should I goprofessionally?
I'm like, okay. Here, I'll buildyou a business. We're gonna
(10:25):
start here and then we're gonnado this and then we're gonna do
that. We're gonna and then she'slike, yeah. I'm not doing any of
that.
And then I'm I'm like, oh, don'tworry. I spent so much time
developing that for you. Andshe's like, yeah. I love you for
that, but I'm not doing that. Soyeah.
But I think that as we got alittle bit older, you know, it
got to that point where we Ithink we became more accepting
(10:47):
of of who we are and even ourdifferences. It's like, oh, I
love that about you. I'm notthat, but I love that about you.
We really, embraced each other'spersonalities. We've been
through everything together.
We have been through marriagesand divorces and the birth of
(11:12):
children and the biggest screwups of our lives and life
changing adventures. Those aresome good ones. Let's talk about
those adventures.
Leisa (11:22):
Okay. Let's talk about some life changing adventures.
Wendy Barr (11:26):
Okay. I was hoping you'd ask that, Lisa.
Lori Cohen (11:28):
Oh, so psychic.
Wendy Barr (11:31):
So when we were teenagers, this is my favorite
one, although we have lots ofthem. But when we were
teenagers, I think I was 16maybe and Laurie was 15 and, we
decided that we wanted to go toAspen. We were gonna we lived in
Denver. We were gonna go toAspen and and we, told our
(11:53):
parents that we were earning themoney to go to Aspen by selling
macrame pot hangers or planthangers. So we were like going
door to door selling these planthangers and what we make like
$15 but we lied to our parentsand we told them that sorry mom,
that we and I had made so muchmoney that we were going to take
(12:15):
the train or the train up toAspen and that we were going to
and we had a hotel and we hadthis 2 week or 3 week or
whatever it was summer vacationplanned and they believed us and
we said now you've gotta trustus that we're gonna be
independent so you can't call usat the hotel.
(12:36):
This was before cell phones ofcourse. Don't call us, we'll
call you. And to prove to usthat you trust us, don't call
us. Well, we had no money, none,like hardly any. So we
hitchhiked up to Aspen fromDenver and that alone is a
story.
And then when we got up there,we couldn't afford to stay in a
(12:59):
hotel. So we had we were campingin the woods with a bunch of
hippies that were selling drugson the streets of Aspen and we
were like, really? We can makemoney like that? We need money.
We're like, okay.
So we'll sell your drugs too.And we were like I mean, our we
if we wanted to eat while wewere in Aspen, we we stole. We
(13:22):
were going to the store and wewould hide chips under our shirt
or whatever we and our parentsdidn't know, and they trusted
us, and we called them regularlyfrom the pay phone. And oh my
god.
Leisa (13:38):
How long were you up there?
Wendy Barr (13:41):
2 weeks, 3 weeks. It was 2 gosh. 2 weeks. And then he
Lori Cohen (13:47):
In between our trip, we hit to red rocks to go see
the dead. And we got this guythat was gonna take us only a
little ways and ended up drivingus all the way to Morrison. And
he had a, cooler with every kindof booze you could think of. And
I'm steadily making him drinkswhile he's driving us like
(14:08):
maniacs, but it was much saferthan our ride, our our hitchhike
on the way out there because wegot a pervert, and it was really
spooky. And then we got a a atruck full of hippies, so it
made it all better.
But, of course, we had to have asuitcase, our purses, a sign, a
big tent, big sleeping bags.Like, we had a pile of stuff
(14:30):
that we're drawing in.
Wendy Barr (14:31):
We could want. No. We couldn't walk like, you know,
like, you walk with yourbackpack, with your thumb out.
No. We had a giant heap of ofwe've never did it before.
We didn't and our sleeping bagsare not like these days that
they can fold up as small as ajacket. No. They were like those
big old and the tent was we hadto call a friend to come and get
(14:55):
some of our stuff so that wecould finish our little
adventure.
Lori Cohen (15:00):
Wow. Yep. I So we did did. Oh, I know. Oh my god.
I did tell my mother yearslater. Me too. We, we had to
hitch back up to Aspen becauseall our stuff was still there.
And, we left our stuff. There'slike this sign where you go to
look at Aspen's, and then itsays do not trespass.
(15:22):
Well, that's where we passed.And we went and we we had this
perfect spot. The the picturewhere you look straight up and
you see the trees and the sky,that's what we had. And it was
magical. I I would die if my 15year old would have done what I
did.
But Thank you. We felt soprotected. It was crazy how we
(15:45):
just Wendy always got me intothese things, I tell you. It was
all her fault. And talked meinto these crazy things.
And I was like, oh, okay. Let'sgo. And we did.
Wendy Barr (15:56):
I'm like I'm like, don't worry, Laurie. I have a
knife strapped to my cap. So ifanything happens, I got this
knife and it was hidden under mypant leg. Yeah. It was just this
little thing.
And so when
Lori Cohen (16:08):
we Wait.
Leisa (16:08):
Hold on. Let me get my knife.
Wendy Barr (16:11):
When we when we got picked up by that pervert truck
driver, we had all of our gearand it was all in the back and
so he goes, I was like, pullover. Pull over right now and
you let us out. You let us out.So he pulls over and Laurie's
sitting in the middle and so I'mthinking to myself, if I jump
out, what's to stop him frompulling off with Laurie in the
(16:32):
car? So we were holding handsreally tight and I just threw
all of our stuff out onto thestreet without leaving her even
for a second and we held handsand we jumped out.
We were like, oh my god. Oh,that sounds so scary. So scary.
Like, I don't know what we werethinking, which like like Laurie
(16:52):
said, her kid never. But, yeah,we,
Lori Cohen (16:57):
We had a bubble of protection that just took care
of us no matter what journey wewere on. You know, we were one
time we were looking formushrooms for her birthday, and
I'm like, fuck. We're turningcow poop over to see if we could
find mushrooms. And we're like
Wendy Barr (17:17):
I'm like, Laurie, I hear it grows in cow dung, you
know, like silly mushrooms. Andso I'm like, Laurie, I hear they
grow in so we're out there insome cow field and we're like
flipping over. Well, little didwe know it only grows, like, in
the dew of the early morning.And we were, like, in the middle
of the afternoon just flippingover hot dung. And we
Lori Cohen (17:38):
cows looking at us like, what? Who are you?
Wendy Barr (17:41):
Oh my god.
Lori Cohen (17:42):
Funny. Oh my god. Yeah.
Leisa (17:45):
That's so fun. So how did you how I mean so that's when
you're younger, and then how doyou maintain the friendship as
you, you know, start to not bein school together and your, you
know, lives can take you apart.But how did you guys maintain
that closeness?
Lori Cohen (18:03):
I would say that it you know, we've had our our hit
and misses where we have kind ofseparated a little bit, but not
really. Like, we've alwaysstayed in touch no matter where
we lived. You know, Gwen livesin in California, and I'm in
Colorado. So, but we do get tosee each other quite a bit. But
(18:24):
throughout our lives, I mean,I'm gonna be 62 this December.
So it's been a long journey. AndI don't I I guess, like her
saying that we're sisters, Idon't see my life without her.
And, you know, when something'sgoing on, I hello. I need to
talk.
Wendy Barr (18:44):
Mhmm.
Lori Cohen (18:45):
Would you add to that? I don't
Wendy Barr (18:47):
Yeah. I just feel like there's something can
something connect. Our energiesare connected. And so, we don't
life changes and life happeningsdon't occur without us filling
each other in whether it's atext or it's a phone call or,
you know, it's the mostimportant thing when I go to
(19:09):
Denver to visit family. It'slike seeing Laurie is the most
important thing.
And it's really beautifulbecause she bonded immediately
with my husband, Eric. AndLaurie and Eric have their own
relationships separate from me.They text each other and call
each other. And and so, like,Eric thinks of Laurie as his
(19:31):
sister as well. So it reallyit's just we're just family.
We're just our family.
Leisa (19:38):
Yes.
Wendy Barr (19:38):
Beautiful. The same with Laurie's husband. I love
him, and I've been close to himsince she met him. And I'm close
to her kids since they wereborn.
Leisa (19:47):
What about your, your moms? You said they kinda grew
apart, but then, like and,Laurie, is your mom still with
us? Or
Wendy Barr (19:56):
He is.
Leisa (19:57):
Yeah. She's 84. Wow. And did they ever rekindle before
Wendy's mom passed?
Lori Cohen (20:05):
You know, I don't know if it was considered
rekindling because I think mymother drove Barbara crazy. But
they definitely loved eachother, and they always loved
each other. So there was alwaysthat friendship right there,
that kinship. And, them growingup was just they've got some
wild stories too. I mean Yeah.
(20:28):
You know? They were in City Parkescaping from the police, and
they got away.
Wendy Barr (20:34):
Or remember, like, when my mom my mom like, I was
late to be delivered. My momreally wanted to deliver me. So
her so my mom and Lori's momwent on the roller coaster at
elliches so that she tried toinduce labor because my mother
wanted me to come out. And I Imean, when I was growing up, my
(20:55):
mom I was raised by a singlemom. My mom and dad divorced
while I was still very young,like, maybe 5.
And so and Laurie's mom and dadwere still together. So I spent
a lot of time at Laurie's houseand Laurie has a brother and a
sister. I spent a lot of timethere while my mom worked or
whatever she was doing, figuringout life. And, and so it was so
(21:19):
much more than just going toschool together. We were, like,
really part of each other'slives, and our very first love
was Elvis.
And Laurie had a poster Lauriehad a poster of above her bed,
of Elvis, you know, shaking hispelvis. And so we had this game
that we played and we were realyoung at that point and we would
(21:42):
be doing anything in the houseand playing the piano or
watching TV or outside in thebackyard or whatever. We'd we'd
just look at each other and we'dgo, who do we love? And we'd
both scream, what the hell didyou notice? And we'd run-in the
house and we jump on our bed andwe'd kiss the poster all over
and it was yeah.
Like, we we had so much. We'vealways had so much fun together.
Leisa (22:09):
Oh, I love that. You know? Yeah. It's it's it's just
such a special thing when youcan maintain a connection like
that for, basically, over 60years. That's what has occurred
here is what I'm hearing.
Wendy Barr (22:21):
Yep. Oh, good. Yeah.
Leisa (22:23):
What, Lori, what would you wish for Wendy? Or, Laura,
what would you wish for when?
Lori Cohen (22:34):
Just joy. Just to enjoy life, have fun, and just
be. Beautiful. That's all youmeant.
Leisa (22:45):
What what do you wish for?
Wendy Barr (22:48):
Health and a long life so that we can spend that
time together because I want usto both live to over a 100 and,
because I can't imagine my lifewithout her either. So, and we
went through our share last yearwith my best friend, another
best friend of mine, Amy,passing away at, like, only 56,
(23:10):
and my dad, and my cousins, andit really makes you aware of the
people that are in your life andhow precious those friendships
are. And yeah. I I agree.
Leisa (23:23):
Is there anything sorry. Is there anything, Laurie, that
you wanna say to Wendy? Like,you know, what you're grateful
to her for?
Lori Cohen (23:34):
I'm I'm so grateful just to have you as my BFF win.
And and just I always know thatyou're there for me no matter
what, and that is justpriceless.
Wendy Barr (23:52):
Oh, thanks, Flor. I feel the same exact way about
you. It's it's nice to know thatbecause I feel like we we can
put our friends in like certaincategories like this is a friend
I would talk to about business.This is a friend I had talked to
about personal. This is a friendI might talk to about working
out or or this is a person thatI go out and party with only,
(24:15):
but I wouldn't really get allthat deep with them.
But then you have your friendslike Laurie and like you, Lisa,
that I feel personally that Ican connect on every single
level with, with Laurie and withyou, Lisa. Because and I'm so
blessed that I have made thisfriendship in California because
(24:36):
Laurie knows I was very lonelyfor a long time when we first
moved to California because myclosest friends are are in
Denver. But, for Lori, a long,healthy, wonderful life full of
joy and love. I want her to beloved and feel loved.
Leisa (24:54):
Yeah. That's beautiful. Well, I know you're not in the
same state now, but if you weretogether, what what do you guys
do when you get together?
Lori Cohen (25:05):
Just hang out. Maybe go get something to eat.
Wendy Barr (25:09):
Mhmm. Well, we would go to we would go to festivals.
Go to what? O'Toole. Yeah.
Like, go to a tool concert or a9 inch nails concert. And, Lori
loves, like, festivals and,like, farmers markets and crafts
shows, and we would probably beat one of those if if there was
(25:31):
one and a concert if there wasone or, yeah. Anything's fun.
Leisa (25:38):
That's so fun. I love how you guys met. It's you're the
first in utero friendship Iwell, and I guess, maybe it's
not in utero because you weren'tin this in utero together
separate, you know, at the sametime. But the first
Wendy Barr (25:52):
We're certainly babies.
Leisa (25:54):
Yeah. We had another set of friends who were sisters. So
they that's the closest I couldsay to what to what your story
is. But not being blood relatedthat you were able to maintain a
friendship for 6 decades, that'sa really, really long time as
far
Lori Cohen (26:12):
as in most marriages.
Wendy Barr (26:16):
Marriages and boyfriends. Absolutely. We yeah.
We did everything. We did allthe experimenting, everything
together.
Lori Cohen (26:24):
Yeah.
Leisa (26:24):
And and I love that you were able to ebb and flow and
give each other grace throughthose, you know, adolescent
decisions. Let's just say, we'renot always at our best, you
know, through life and that youwere able to still come back and
heal from that or just maintainyour friendship through that,
(26:44):
develop trust through that is isreally beautiful. I'm so
grateful that you're here on ourshow. And to our besties
listening, honestly, you youdon't need to meet your best
friend from when you're born,but maybe you did and you just
haven't found them yet. Maybemaybe you lost touch with them.
(27:06):
So that's interesting. I don'thave to think about that one.
Love you guys. Thank you so muchfor being in the show, and we
will see you all on our nextepisode. Bye.
Lori Cohen (27:17):
Yay. Bye. Bye.
Leisa (27:22):
Hey, bestie. Thanks for listening. If you like this
episode, be sure to hit thatsubscribe button to get notified
of new episodes and check outcool Bestie gift ideas at how I
met my bff.com.
Tamara (27:33):
That's right. And also, leave us a review. Those reviews
help us out a lot and are one ofthe best ways to support us.
Leisa (27:40):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
BFF, send us an email at info athow I met my bff.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (27:48):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (27:53):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (27:55):
Love you, BFFs.
Hey, besties. My name is Leisa
Tamara (00:03):
And my name is Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were about 12 years old growing
up in good old Fairbanks,Alaska.
Tamara (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have some
fun, friendly conversations withthe bestest of best friends.
Tamara (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met. Whoknows? You never
Leisa (00:27):
know when you'll meet your next BFF.
Tamara (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa (00:34):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF.
It's Lisa, and I'm flying soloagain. Tamara is working at the
winery and, helping peoplebecause she's an amazing person.
And I can't wait to have herback on our show when we start
recording in a couple weeks. ButI do have an update, and this is
(00:57):
this is something that happenedso happenstance, and that's just
sort of how life goes sometimes.
So for years, for many, manyyears, many, many years, people
have tell been telling me Ishould be a stand up comedian.
They're like, you're so funny.You should be a stand up
comedian. And I say, well, thankyou, but I just can't remember
anything funny that I say. So Idon't I don't think that's in my
(01:20):
future, nor do I really have adream of being a stand up
comedian.
But as luck would have it, I meta woman who is a manager of a
comedy club in Vegas, and she ishelping me. She offered
generously to help me create a,like, a 3 minute set of stand up
(01:40):
comedy. And my agreement is toperform it at an open mic night.
And so she is helping me come upwith something, and I've been
starting to remember and reallyjot down and record the like,
oh, yeah. That's funny that Isaid that.
Oh, that's funny. So, anyway, II think I I don't know when I'm
gonna get my HBO special, but Iwill at least get a spot on the
(02:05):
open mic night at least onetime. So that is my new and
exciting news. And I don't knowif I'm gonna make it public or
not. I mean, I'll share it withmy friends, but I'm not sure how
how public it'll be.
So stay tuned, besties. I amvery excited to have our guests
on the show today because one ofthe guests is my very, very good
(02:26):
friend and one of my bestfriends, Wendy, and she has been
talking about being on the showfor, I think, before it even
started. So I'm extraordinarilyexcited to meet one of her best
friends, Laurie, on the show.And welcome, Wendy and Laurie.
Hi.
Wendy Barr (02:44):
Hi.
Leisa (02:47):
So Nice to meet you. Yeah. Nice to meet you too. It's
so fun as our circles grow.Laurie, I wanna hear from you
first because I I already know alittle bit of the story from
Wendy.
So I'd love to hear yourperspective of how you and Wendy
and I won't even say becamefriends because you have such a
unique way in which you werebrought into each other's orbit.
(03:11):
So kick us off, Laurie. How didyou and Wendy meet?
Lori Cohen (03:16):
Well, our mothers were best friends in high
school, and, they raved havoc onthe streets together. And, they
stayed friends forever and ever,and we were born. So Wendy will
tell everybody that we haveknown each other since I was
(03:36):
born, since she's a year and ahalf older. There used to be a
bathtub picture of the 2 of usbabies in the tub, and she used
to take showers with me untilshe got pubes. And then she was
like, you can't take a showerwith me.
Leisa (03:55):
Okay. We were just diving in right away. Okay. Love it.
Lori Cohen (03:58):
Right away.
Leisa (04:00):
Wow. Okay. So, Wendy, do you wanna fill I know so we've
gone to a certain age, but doyou wanna fill us in on your
side of the story?
Wendy Barr (04:07):
Yes. Well, first of all, I only had one pube.
There's just the one. But still,that vetoed any interaction in
the shower. It's like, no.
Don't get don't get don't. Youdon't understand. You're
younger. So, yeah. So yeah.
And I did wanna say, that one ofthe reasons I scheduled for
(04:28):
today is that it if, it's mymom's birthday. My mom passed
away about 10 years ago. Can youbelieve it's been that long,
Laura? But, so I thought itwould be fun for Laurie and I
to, record today. But yeah.
So exactly. We met when, we werethrown together as babies and
(04:51):
the interesting thing is thatour moms grew apart and, and
later in life, I mean, they werethey saw each other every once
in a while. They were cordial,they were friendly, but they
weren't tight. And I feel likeLaurie and I stayed tight,
through our whole lives. Therewere there were little times,
like, in high school or juniorhigh that I was like, oh,
(05:14):
Laurie, you can't hang out withme and my mature friends.
You're you're too young. Youdon't understand us. And and I
would exclude her and her herfeelings, but, but then we
always found our way backtogether. Always. We were always
like sisters.
I always think of ourselves aslike we're we are as different
(05:35):
as we are alike. We are so weare exactly like sisters would
be. So I'm so grateful. I'm anonly child. So
Leisa (05:45):
So, Gloria, what what do you think you guys have in so if
you're so alike and sodifferent, like, what are some
of the things that you have thatare alike? And then let's talk
about what's different.
Lori Cohen (05:57):
I would say that growing up, we loved partying
and playing and going toconcerts. I mean, we saw them
all from Black Sabbath to LynyrdSkynyrd to the Grateful Dead. We
just went to everythingtogether. So I wouldn't say we
were I I was excludedcompletely. It was when she was
(06:20):
hanging out with boys, and Iwasn't ready for that.
And she was having fun, and Iwas like, yeah. Go have fun. But
we differently like, she's a bigbusiness person. I I work for a
band, and I'm their agent. Andshe's been wanting me to do me,
(06:42):
which is I'm I'm definitely ahealer, but I chose to work with
the band and kinda heal in thatsense.
So she's definitely big timebusiness entrepreneur, and I'm
just kinda hanging out andknowing abundance is gonna come
my way.
Leisa (07:02):
Well, that's a great belief to have, though. What a
powerful belief. And, you know,you don't have healers or I
mean, I'm a healer too, but howI do it is different. I'm not,
like, putting hands on someoneor, like, what traditionally
people would think, but I healjust because of the frequency
that I I bring to the table formy clients. They don't even know
that it's happening.
I don't even need to say thatI'm a healer. They don't need to
(07:24):
know. They just know that, oh,they feel better and they feel
more confident and all that. SoI'm imagining that you do a lot
of that for the whole crew andthe whole experience. Right?
Do you do you tell them thatthat's what you're doing, or do
you just kinda keep it on thedeal? Yeah.
Lori Cohen (07:39):
No. But they I'm a you know, people will use the
word manifest, but I'm acreator. I think it's it's a
powerful word creating. And, mysinger will sometimes be a
little negative, and I'll belike, look. I'm creating
abundance here, so just be quietand know it is.
Wendy Barr (07:58):
And,
Lori Cohen (07:58):
you know, but I also on the streets, I see somebody
broke down on the side of theroad. I send them the violet
flame, and, you know, I'm I'malways, I see a homeless person,
and I bow to them and give themlove. You know, that's healing.
So
Wendy Barr (08:16):
Wow. Lori heals every single person she comes in
contact with from her friends toher acquaintances to strangers.
And I'll tell you this fromexperience is that there is
nothing better than a hug fromLaurie. Just the way the energy
that I feel when she wraps herarms around me and the way the
way she smells always likeessential oils and love and just
(08:40):
I mean, there is nothing betterthan a hug from miss Lori. And
she's I'm the one that alwaysgoing, well, you know, try to
preserve some of your energy,Lori.
You're giving too much right nowand that's why you're healthy.
You know, like, if she's notfeeling well, I'll be like,
well, what it you know, what'sgoing on in your life? And she's
like, literally saying, I'mgiving to this person. I'm
(09:01):
giving to that person. I'mgiving to and I'm like, okay,
Laurie.
Can you just, like, hone in justfor a minute and give yourself
some of that energy because shedoesn't know when to stop
because she is just that person,that giving, loving, healing,
wonderful human.
Leisa (09:19):
Wow. That's so cool that you're helping all those people
and very thoughtful too with itand, like, intentional. I love
that. And and creating healingkinda wherever you are. That's
that's really a great way togive your gift.
I love that. What, so, Wendy,what do you what do you think
when you think about the howyou're very similar and very
(09:39):
different? What what comes tomind for you?
Wendy Barr (09:41):
Yeah. I I think Laurie kinda nailed it. I mean,
we, we both love rock and rolland concerts and, we're both
super creative. We like to play.We like to have fun.
We're both caring and giving andloving people. But then that
piece that's a little differentis that, Lori has kids. I never
(10:02):
had kids. And, and so mybusinesses that I've my
businesses have always been mybabies that I birthed. And, you
know, and so it's true thatevery time anytime Laurie was,
like, in between, like, whatshould I do with my life or
where should I goprofessionally?
I'm like, okay. Here, I'll buildyou a business. We're gonna
(10:25):
start here and then we're gonnado this and then we're gonna do
that. We're gonna and then she'slike, yeah. I'm not doing any of
that.
And then I'm I'm like, oh, don'tworry. I spent so much time
developing that for you. Andshe's like, yeah. I love you for
that, but I'm not doing that. Soyeah.
But I think that as we got alittle bit older, you know, it
got to that point where we Ithink we became more accepting
(10:47):
of of who we are and even ourdifferences. It's like, oh, I
love that about you. I'm notthat, but I love that about you.
We really, embraced each other'spersonalities. We've been
through everything together.
We have been through marriagesand divorces and the birth of
(11:12):
children and the biggest screwups of our lives and life
changing adventures. Those aresome good ones. Let's talk about
those adventures.
Leisa (11:22):
Okay. Let's talk about some life changing adventures.
Wendy Barr (11:26):
Okay. I was hoping you'd ask that, Lisa.
Lori Cohen (11:28):
Oh, so psychic.
Wendy Barr (11:31):
So when we were teenagers, this is my favorite
one, although we have lots ofthem. But when we were
teenagers, I think I was 16maybe and Laurie was 15 and, we
decided that we wanted to go toAspen. We were gonna we lived in
Denver. We were gonna go toAspen and and we, told our
(11:53):
parents that we were earning themoney to go to Aspen by selling
macrame pot hangers or planthangers. So we were like going
door to door selling these planthangers and what we make like
$15 but we lied to our parentsand we told them that sorry mom,
that we and I had made so muchmoney that we were going to take
(12:15):
the train or the train up toAspen and that we were going to
and we had a hotel and we hadthis 2 week or 3 week or
whatever it was summer vacationplanned and they believed us and
we said now you've gotta trustus that we're gonna be
independent so you can't call usat the hotel.
(12:36):
This was before cell phones ofcourse. Don't call us, we'll
call you. And to prove to usthat you trust us, don't call
us. Well, we had no money, none,like hardly any. So we
hitchhiked up to Aspen fromDenver and that alone is a
story.
And then when we got up there,we couldn't afford to stay in a
(12:59):
hotel. So we had we were campingin the woods with a bunch of
hippies that were selling drugson the streets of Aspen and we
were like, really? We can makemoney like that? We need money.
We're like, okay.
So we'll sell your drugs too.And we were like I mean, our we
if we wanted to eat while wewere in Aspen, we we stole. We
(13:22):
were going to the store and wewould hide chips under our shirt
or whatever we and our parentsdidn't know, and they trusted
us, and we called them regularlyfrom the pay phone. And oh my
god.
Leisa (13:38):
How long were you up there?
Wendy Barr (13:41):
2 weeks, 3 weeks. It was 2 gosh. 2 weeks. And then he
Lori Cohen (13:47):
In between our trip, we hit to red rocks to go see
the dead. And we got this guythat was gonna take us only a
little ways and ended up drivingus all the way to Morrison. And
he had a, cooler with every kindof booze you could think of. And
I'm steadily making him drinkswhile he's driving us like
(14:08):
maniacs, but it was much saferthan our ride, our our hitchhike
on the way out there because wegot a pervert, and it was really
spooky. And then we got a a atruck full of hippies, so it
made it all better.
But, of course, we had to have asuitcase, our purses, a sign, a
big tent, big sleeping bags.Like, we had a pile of stuff
(14:30):
that we're drawing in.
Wendy Barr (14:31):
We could want. No. We couldn't walk like, you know,
like, you walk with yourbackpack, with your thumb out.
No. We had a giant heap of ofwe've never did it before.
We didn't and our sleeping bagsare not like these days that
they can fold up as small as ajacket. No. They were like those
big old and the tent was we hadto call a friend to come and get
(14:55):
some of our stuff so that wecould finish our little
adventure.
Lori Cohen (15:00):
Wow. Yep. I So we did did. Oh, I know. Oh my god.
I did tell my mother yearslater. Me too. We, we had to
hitch back up to Aspen becauseall our stuff was still there.
And, we left our stuff. There'slike this sign where you go to
look at Aspen's, and then itsays do not trespass.
(15:22):
Well, that's where we passed.And we went and we we had this
perfect spot. The the picturewhere you look straight up and
you see the trees and the sky,that's what we had. And it was
magical. I I would die if my 15year old would have done what I
did.
But Thank you. We felt soprotected. It was crazy how we
(15:45):
just Wendy always got me intothese things, I tell you. It was
all her fault. And talked meinto these crazy things.
And I was like, oh, okay. Let'sgo. And we did.
Wendy Barr (15:56):
I'm like I'm like, don't worry, Laurie. I have a
knife strapped to my cap. So ifanything happens, I got this
knife and it was hidden under mypant leg. Yeah. It was just this
little thing.
And so when
Lori Cohen (16:08):
we Wait.
Leisa (16:08):
Hold on. Let me get my knife.
Wendy Barr (16:11):
When we when we got picked up by that pervert truck
driver, we had all of our gearand it was all in the back and
so he goes, I was like, pullover. Pull over right now and
you let us out. You let us out.So he pulls over and Laurie's
sitting in the middle and so I'mthinking to myself, if I jump
out, what's to stop him frompulling off with Laurie in the
(16:32):
car? So we were holding handsreally tight and I just threw
all of our stuff out onto thestreet without leaving her even
for a second and we held handsand we jumped out.
We were like, oh my god. Oh,that sounds so scary. So scary.
Like, I don't know what we werethinking, which like like Laurie
(16:52):
said, her kid never. But, yeah,we,
Lori Cohen (16:57):
We had a bubble of protection that just took care
of us no matter what journey wewere on. You know, we were one
time we were looking formushrooms for her birthday, and
I'm like, fuck. We're turningcow poop over to see if we could
find mushrooms. And we're like
Wendy Barr (17:17):
I'm like, Laurie, I hear it grows in cow dung, you
know, like silly mushrooms. Andso I'm like, Laurie, I hear they
grow in so we're out there insome cow field and we're like
flipping over. Well, little didwe know it only grows, like, in
the dew of the early morning.And we were, like, in the middle
of the afternoon just flippingover hot dung. And we
Lori Cohen (17:38):
cows looking at us like, what? Who are you?
Wendy Barr (17:41):
Oh my god.
Lori Cohen (17:42):
Funny. Oh my god. Yeah.
Leisa (17:45):
That's so fun. So how did you how I mean so that's when
you're younger, and then how doyou maintain the friendship as
you, you know, start to not bein school together and your, you
know, lives can take you apart.But how did you guys maintain
that closeness?
Lori Cohen (18:03):
I would say that it you know, we've had our our hit
and misses where we have kind ofseparated a little bit, but not
really. Like, we've alwaysstayed in touch no matter where
we lived. You know, Gwen livesin in California, and I'm in
Colorado. So, but we do get tosee each other quite a bit. But
(18:24):
throughout our lives, I mean,I'm gonna be 62 this December.
So it's been a long journey. AndI don't I I guess, like her
saying that we're sisters, Idon't see my life without her.
And, you know, when something'sgoing on, I hello. I need to
talk.
Wendy Barr (18:44):
Mhmm.
Lori Cohen (18:45):
Would you add to that? I don't
Wendy Barr (18:47):
Yeah. I just feel like there's something can
something connect. Our energiesare connected. And so, we don't
life changes and life happeningsdon't occur without us filling
each other in whether it's atext or it's a phone call or,
you know, it's the mostimportant thing when I go to
(19:09):
Denver to visit family. It'slike seeing Laurie is the most
important thing.
And it's really beautifulbecause she bonded immediately
with my husband, Eric. AndLaurie and Eric have their own
relationships separate from me.They text each other and call
each other. And and so, like,Eric thinks of Laurie as his
(19:31):
sister as well. So it reallyit's just we're just family.
We're just our family.
Leisa (19:38):
Yes.
Wendy Barr (19:38):
Beautiful. The same with Laurie's husband. I love
him, and I've been close to himsince she met him. And I'm close
to her kids since they wereborn.
Leisa (19:47):
What about your, your moms? You said they kinda grew
apart, but then, like and,Laurie, is your mom still with
us? Or
Wendy Barr (19:56):
He is.
Leisa (19:57):
Yeah. She's 84. Wow. And did they ever rekindle before
Wendy's mom passed?
Lori Cohen (20:05):
You know, I don't know if it was considered
rekindling because I think mymother drove Barbara crazy. But
they definitely loved eachother, and they always loved
each other. So there was alwaysthat friendship right there,
that kinship. And, them growingup was just they've got some
wild stories too. I mean Yeah.
(20:28):
You know? They were in City Parkescaping from the police, and
they got away.
Wendy Barr (20:34):
Or remember, like, when my mom my mom like, I was
late to be delivered. My momreally wanted to deliver me. So
her so my mom and Lori's momwent on the roller coaster at
elliches so that she tried toinduce labor because my mother
wanted me to come out. And I Imean, when I was growing up, my
(20:55):
mom I was raised by a singlemom. My mom and dad divorced
while I was still very young,like, maybe 5.
And so and Laurie's mom and dadwere still together. So I spent
a lot of time at Laurie's houseand Laurie has a brother and a
sister. I spent a lot of timethere while my mom worked or
whatever she was doing, figuringout life. And, and so it was so
(21:19):
much more than just going toschool together. We were, like,
really part of each other'slives, and our very first love
was Elvis.
And Laurie had a poster Lauriehad a poster of above her bed,
of Elvis, you know, shaking hispelvis. And so we had this game
that we played and we were realyoung at that point and we would
(21:42):
be doing anything in the houseand playing the piano or
watching TV or outside in thebackyard or whatever. We'd we'd
just look at each other and we'dgo, who do we love? And we'd
both scream, what the hell didyou notice? And we'd run-in the
house and we jump on our bed andwe'd kiss the poster all over
and it was yeah.
Like, we we had so much. We'vealways had so much fun together.
Leisa (22:09):
Oh, I love that. You know? Yeah. It's it's it's just
such a special thing when youcan maintain a connection like
that for, basically, over 60years. That's what has occurred
here is what I'm hearing.
Wendy Barr (22:21):
Yep. Oh, good. Yeah.
Leisa (22:23):
What, Lori, what would you wish for Wendy? Or, Laura,
what would you wish for when?
Lori Cohen (22:34):
Just joy. Just to enjoy life, have fun, and just
be. Beautiful. That's all youmeant.
Leisa (22:45):
What what do you wish for?
Wendy Barr (22:48):
Health and a long life so that we can spend that
time together because I want usto both live to over a 100 and,
because I can't imagine my lifewithout her either. So, and we
went through our share last yearwith my best friend, another
best friend of mine, Amy,passing away at, like, only 56,
(23:10):
and my dad, and my cousins, andit really makes you aware of the
people that are in your life andhow precious those friendships
are. And yeah. I I agree.
Leisa (23:23):
Is there anything sorry. Is there anything, Laurie, that
you wanna say to Wendy? Like,you know, what you're grateful
to her for?
Lori Cohen (23:34):
I'm I'm so grateful just to have you as my BFF win.
And and just I always know thatyou're there for me no matter
what, and that is justpriceless.
Wendy Barr (23:52):
Oh, thanks, Flor. I feel the same exact way about
you. It's it's nice to know thatbecause I feel like we we can
put our friends in like certaincategories like this is a friend
I would talk to about business.This is a friend I had talked to
about personal. This is a friendI might talk to about working
out or or this is a person thatI go out and party with only,
(24:15):
but I wouldn't really get allthat deep with them.
But then you have your friendslike Laurie and like you, Lisa,
that I feel personally that Ican connect on every single
level with, with Laurie and withyou, Lisa. Because and I'm so
blessed that I have made thisfriendship in California because
(24:36):
Laurie knows I was very lonelyfor a long time when we first
moved to California because myclosest friends are are in
Denver. But, for Lori, a long,healthy, wonderful life full of
joy and love. I want her to beloved and feel loved.
Leisa (24:54):
Yeah. That's beautiful. Well, I know you're not in the
same state now, but if you weretogether, what what do you guys
do when you get together?
Lori Cohen (25:05):
Just hang out. Maybe go get something to eat.
Wendy Barr (25:09):
Mhmm. Well, we would go to we would go to festivals.
Go to what? O'Toole. Yeah.
Like, go to a tool concert or a9 inch nails concert. And, Lori
loves, like, festivals and,like, farmers markets and crafts
shows, and we would probably beat one of those if if there was
(25:31):
one and a concert if there wasone or, yeah. Anything's fun.
Leisa (25:38):
That's so fun. I love how you guys met. It's you're the
first in utero friendship Iwell, and I guess, maybe it's
not in utero because you weren'tin this in utero together
separate, you know, at the sametime. But the first
Wendy Barr (25:52):
We're certainly babies.
Leisa (25:54):
Yeah. We had another set of friends who were sisters. So
they that's the closest I couldsay to what to what your story
is. But not being blood relatedthat you were able to maintain a
friendship for 6 decades, that'sa really, really long time as
far
Lori Cohen (26:12):
as in most marriages.
Wendy Barr (26:16):
Marriages and boyfriends. Absolutely. We yeah.
We did everything. We did allthe experimenting, everything
together.
Lori Cohen (26:24):
Yeah.
Leisa (26:24):
And and I love that you were able to ebb and flow and
give each other grace throughthose, you know, adolescent
decisions. Let's just say, we'renot always at our best, you
know, through life and that youwere able to still come back and
heal from that or just maintainyour friendship through that,
(26:44):
develop trust through that is isreally beautiful. I'm so
grateful that you're here on ourshow. And to our besties
listening, honestly, you youdon't need to meet your best
friend from when you're born,but maybe you did and you just
haven't found them yet. Maybemaybe you lost touch with them.
(27:06):
So that's interesting. I don'thave to think about that one.
Love you guys. Thank you so muchfor being in the show, and we
will see you all on our nextepisode. Bye.
Lori Cohen (27:17):
Yay. Bye. Bye.
Leisa (27:22):
Hey, bestie. Thanks for listening. If you like this
episode, be sure to hit thatsubscribe button to get notified
of new episodes and check outcool Bestie gift ideas at how I
met my bff.com.
Tamara (27:33):
That's right. And also, leave us a review. Those reviews
help us out a lot and are one ofthe best ways to support us.
Leisa (27:40):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
BFF, send us an email at info athow I met my bff.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (27:48):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (27:53):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (27:55):
Love you, BFFs.
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