Gee, I miss my good friend Lee Bice – and I really can’t believe that it was almost nine years ago that she joined her mother Jeanne in heaven.  I can only imagine what the angels in heaven look like now that Jeanne & Lee showed up with their wands full of glitter and bling – you just KNOW that it’s absolutely beautiful up there.  The two of them did such a great job making all of our Quackers look great here on earth, so you can bet that our angels in heaven are sparkling and shining like never before!

It was great fun watching Lee join her mother on QVC, but of course we all remember that Lee had her own QVC show when she introduced America to her Quacker Factory Home Accessories – which every item (except 1) sold out!

I absolutely adored Lee Bice!  One of the greatest things about being part of the Quacker team is that I got to spend time with Lee and to have her become one of my dearest friends.  If Lee was in the room, you just knew you were going to have a great time!  Her smile was beautiful – and her laugh (let me tell you, it was a BIG and LOUD laugh!) was infectious.  The picture above was taken when we went on a cruise together in December 2010 – you can just tell how much fun she was – and how she was an expert in bringing out the ‘clown’ in me!

Here’s a picture of Lee and her brother Tim one Christmas.  How adorable are the two of them?!

And here’s another picture of the two of them a few Christmas’s later.  Do you think that Jeannemade that beautiful Christmas wreath!

And how about this great school photo of Lee – what a stunner she was, and just look at those beautiful eyes!!!

Lee went to college first in the sunny state of Hawaii and then went on to study at the very prestigious Parsons New School of Design in New York City.  Lee loved art, decorating and interior design, so Parsons was the perfect place for her to go and study.  It was while she was there, that the whole family really fell in love with NYC.  One of their favorite times to go was at Thanksgiving for the annual Thanksgiving Parade.  Lee once told me the story of how they all got up very early one morning before the parade so that they could go uptown and watch the balloons being blown up for the big parade!

And how about this wonderful picture of Lee on her wedding day after college – isn’t she beautiful?!

I had the absolute pleasure of going on vacation with Lee for two whole weeks in 2007.  We went with about 14 of our friends on a two-week cruise that departed from Vancouver and went up to Alaska for a week – and then we sailed down the west coast of America finally ending in San Diego.  It was at this time that I really grew closer to Lee and discovered that not only did she love to design, but she was an avid dog lover as well.  Her other passion was reading – and we spent hours and hours reading together in the crisp, clean air – and talking about our favorite books.  We also had the BEST time going to all of the shows on board – especially the comedy shows!  And there was NO mistaking Lee’s laugh – I used to joke with her that she laughed so loud that Jeanne could probably hear her all the way in Florida while we were on that cruise!  On one night during the cruise, we went to the evening show and we each laughed so loud and so much, that after the show, the headline act came and hunted us down and told us when all of his other shows were because he wanted us both there to help ‘wake up’ the other audience members!  J  Here are a couple of pictures of us on that cruise!  The first one is at 6 in the morning when we all woke up to see the beautiful Mendenhall Glacier.  The second one was taken on one of the Formal nights of the cruise – what a snazzy group we all were!

And here we are a couple of years later in 2009 at the Quacker Factory trip to Branson.  One of the Quackers actually got married at the event (with Jeanne being the witness on the marriage certificate!).  It was great fun getting dressed up for the wedding.  Doesn’t Lee look Quack-Tabulous in her purple velvet outfit?!

But my favorite pictures of Lee are of course the ones with her mother.  Here they are in 2006 for a July 4^th party.  They look so patriotic in their red, white & blue!

And I just LOVE this one of Lee with Jeanne and her brother, Tim.  This was taken on Christmas Eve in 2010.  Not only can you see the interior of Jeanne’s house that Lee designed and decorated, but also you can see just how much Lee loved her mother.

I sure do miss them both, but it makes my heart sing to know that the two of them are together again.  Not only were they mother and daughter, but they were best friends as well.

Every time I hear thunder come from the heavens above, I smile a little smile, because I know that it means that Lee has told another one of her funny jokes to the angels – and they are all laughing as robustly and happily as Lee used to while she was on earth!  So the next time you hear lots of thunder, don’t be frightened – it’s just Lee and Jeanne laughing with, and ‘quacking’ up, the angels!

To see more pictures of Lee and her family, friends and co-workers, please click here and go to our “Remembering Lee” album on our Quacker Factory Facebook Page.

Quacker Hugs & Love to each and every one of you!

Patrick

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