Shelley Hooker
Danys and my mother, Sandy Kirk, were best friends beginning in the 4th grade in Dallas. Their bond continued until Sandy’s death in March 2022. The greeting card industry will see a loss in revenue because it was tradition for them to send multiple birthday cards to each other each year – and at least 1 card for all of the other holidays. They took several trips together and usually came back with some crazy stories. The trip that stands out the most is when they attended an anniversary event for The Last Picture Show in Archer City, Texas. (Larry McMurtry, Jeff Bridges and Cloris Leachman were all in attendance.) I can’t remember if it was my mother or Danys who fell off a chair while trying to get a better look at Jeff Bridges. It wouldn’t surprise me if they both were standing on same the chair. As Melissa said, ‘they are going to be like schoolgirls when they see each other in heaven.” I can almost hear Danys’ fantastic laugh as they giggle together. It was a true a lifelong friendship. Danys and Jim were a constant in Mom’s life through several cross country moves and a couple of divorces. (Mom would not be happy that I wrote the divorce part!!) Danys remained a true friend by continuing the tradition of Saturday morning phone calls even after Sandy’s stroke in 2014 when communicating was difficult. May sweet memories bring solace to the Self/Hoffman family – Jim, Melissa, Kurt, Payden and Bailie.
