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Belinda Hogan was 14 and Lillie Lane, a mother of two, was in her mid-30s.

Hogan sometimes baby-sat Lane's children, one of them, Janie, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Lillie Lane, concerned that if she died early, nobody would care for her two children, especially Janie, she made a deal with Belinda Hogan.

It was a parental pact, a pinky promise. Belinda probably wrote it down in her diary. They agreed that after one of them died, the other would care for their children.

No big deal, right? Innocent kids make promises all the time. But they're broken faster and easier than a cheap Christmas present.

Not this one.

Now, more than 40 years later, Belinda Hogan, a 55-year-old Middletown grandmother, is keeping that promise, caring for Lillie Lane's daughter, Janie, like her own.

"She's my Janie," Hogan said.

On Tuesday, Janie Lane celebrated her 50th birthday with fellow clients at the Middletown Enrichment Center. The party included cup cakes, ice cream and a promised trip to McDonald's.

Lane looks 50, acts 9. She believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, prefers coloring books over crossword puzzles, plays with Barbie dolls and thinks the "Golden Arches" signal a five-star restaurant.

"M-c-D-o-n-a-l-d-s," spelled Janie's brother, Greg Lane, 45, who lives in Middletown and attended the party. "Around her, we have to say it that way. Otherwise, she'll drive you crazy."

After Lillie Lane's husband died in 1981, she and her two children, then 24 and 19, moved to Florida. Years later, Lillie Lane was diagnosed with brain cancer.

She died on Oct. 23, 1993. Janie moved in with her brother, then a medical school student in Florida. With no family nearby, he often left Janie with a baby-sitter. Then, during a two-week vacation, he drove Janie to stay with Belinda and her family in Monroe.

Janie then returned to Florida, but soon Hogan called and said she wanted to care for Janie permanently. It was time to pay up, fulfill a promise.

Lane admitted he felt "guilty" at first, then he realized Janie's life with Hogan — surrounded by her family, friends and pets — would be more rewarding than with him.

Janie moved into Hogan's Monroe residence on Sept. 9, 1994. She became Janie's legal guardian two years later.

Before she made such an obligation, she discussed the decision with her then-husband David, her son, Billy Denzer and daughter Nickol.

"I never figured it would last this long," said Lane, who moved back to Middletown seven years ago and began his career as a lab technician at Sycamore Medical Center in Miamisburg and a Realtor at Sawyer Realtors. "I figured she'd call one day and say, 'Come and get her.' "

That call never came. Part-time parenting wasn't a loophole in the promise.

Hogan, who is divorced, and Janie live in a Middletown apartment, and she joked they're both looking for rich men.

Hogan said Janie is the "perfect companion" because she never wants to change the radio station, enjoys garage sales and always agrees with her.

"What more could I want?" Hogan asked.

On Tuesday, she needed a few more napkins. At her birthday party, Janie carried a bowl of ice cream and a cup cake into the dining area. She sat in her favorite seat.

Five minutes later, Janie's winkled face and fingers were covered with orange icing. She wanted more. Her brother carried in a second helping.

"Happy Birthday cake," Janie said slowly. "McDonald's."

"We'll go there later," her brother said.

"McDonald's," Janie said. "McDonald's."

As children growing up near Fairfield, whenever they visited the doctor, he gave them McDonald's gift certificates if they were good.

So every time Janie has a doctor, dentist appointment or any holiday — especially the Big 5-0 — she expects McDonald's.

Hogan and Lane never figured Janie would live to see her 50th birthday.

Doctors predicted she'd die before her 16th birthday, her brother said.

"Look at her now," he said.

She was covered in icing. Again.

Janie and Hogan, more like sisters than mother/daughter, are inseparable.

They're only apart if Hogan visits her ill father in Florida. When they're out in public, people sometimes stare at Janie because, well, she looks different.

"If people have a problem with Janie, I tell them, 'Don't look at her,' " Hogan said. "I tell them, 'Don't stare. Just smile.' She's just another kid."

She, of course, is much more than that. She's a 50-year-old woman with a child's innocence.

I called Hogan "a saint," a compliment she has heard before. She wanted no part of my praise.

"I just kept my promise," she said. "There's nothing special about me. I just wanted to make sure she had a good life.

"This is my life."

What was Lillie Lane thinking during her daughter's 50th birthday party?

Hogan answered: "When her mother looks down from heaven, she probably says, 'Thank you for allowing Greg to have a life. Thanks for caring for Janie.' "

That's more than Greg Lane could say.

"What do you tell someone who has done what she has done?" he said. "How do you say enough? You can't put it in words."

So he took her and his sister to lunch. At McDonald's, no doubt.

Contact this columnist at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.