Life long friends share their love and their Luck of the Irish

SPARTA-Jennifer Liland and Adrienne Castorina have been life-long friends. They both grew up in Jefferson, and now reside in Sparta. They also gave birth to their children on the same day, March 17th, 2000 coincidentally, in the same hospital and both needing a Cesearan section. A long history of friendship lies between Adrienne and Jennifer's families. "Throughout our lives, Jennifer and I always seem to stay connected. We both loved cheerleading and gymnastics, our families shared in celebrating graduations, engagements, weddings and births. Our families vacationed together when we were children, learned to ski together, took trips to the Jersey shore and went camping together. I knew we would always stay connected. Having babies on the same day now keeps our children connected," said Adrienne. Jennifer and Adrienne found out they were pregnant within a day of each other, both being due within a day of each other. "I remember laughing about the possibility of having the babies on the same day," recalls Jennifer. As fate had it, or perhaps the Luck of the Irish, Jennifer's joke became a reality. Labor struck Jennifer late in the day, on March 16. In the midst of it all, Jennifer had a hunch that her friend, Adrienne might be sharing in the same excitement, herself. Sure enough, the nurses confirmed it, Adrienne was in labor across the hall. "It was really funny when our husbands ran into each other in the maternity ward," said Adrienne. They coincidentally both delivered via Cesearen section bringing their babies into this world only hours apart on March 17, Saint Patrick's Day. "We had great time in the hospital together. We visited each other, ate meals together, we had a lot of fun," commented Jennifer. Now, the history of these two families is set to repeat itself. Jennifer's baby, Julia Rae and Adrienne's baby, Eric, are now both close friends and will be entering kindergarten together this September. "It seems like just yesterday we were giving birth, now they'll soon be off to kindergarten," said Jennifer. But the Luck of the Irish does not end there for Adrianne and Jennifer. Aside from their St. Patrick's Day babies, there are several other coincidences these two families share. Both women married their high school sweethearts who are both named Eric. Adrienne's maiden name and Jennifer's mother's maiden name were both O'Brien.