Janet Joyce

This weekend marks the anniversary of losing my Grandma Brennan. Janet Joyce passed in May ‘93 which upon thinking about it seems in some ways like yesterday and then again seems so long ago. Reflecting on it made me realize she’s now been gone longer than I ever knew her. I was 15 when she died and I’m now 31. For some reason that was a mind boggling realization for me.

Things I remember about my grandma:

- Spending the summers at her home in the Ozarks. Swimming in the pool for hours each day, followed by awesome dinners…I especially remember mashed potatoes & corn! Yum!

- I remember sometimes going to Silver Dollar City with her, but recall she did not like going into Branson so much. Although one time we did her car overheated and that was a crazy traffic mess!

- Summer evenings included roasting marshmallows in what seemed like a nightly bond fire.

- Learning to paint. She was a great painter. I have a sunset painting she did with me. I treasure it!

- She liked to sleep in each morning. Often times I was up and Grandpa was off to town to make his rounds and get the mail before she would emerge always starting her day with a Pepsi! J

- She was in a “club” with other women in town. Sometimes during the summer I would get to tag along to their luncheons and club meetings.

- She once assured me that “someday” I would get older and get “curves”. Boy was she right!

- For a mother of 8 and grandmother to many she seemed to really enjoy having family around. Her and my Grandpa John seemed very much in love. He always gave me the impression of caring greatly for her and being her protector. I suppose to be true- There was a 14 year age difference!!

- I remember how she seemed so young. And she was. She died at a very young age of 54. She would only be 70 today if she were still with us. Oh, how differently things could be if she were still here…

- I’ll never forget the experience that surrounded her death- I haven't shared this with many and caution this may seem weird to you. I was home alone. Mom was in Missouri with my Grandparents. Honestly I can’t remember where my siblings or dad were. But I was working on a Home Ec sewing project. I remember feeling very odd feeling like someone/thing was with me in the room. I was sitting in the SE corner of my moms room at the sewing machine. There appeared to be something in the NE corner of the room. If I recall there was like a boxed area on the ceiling in that corner this, vision if you may, was up, not exactly on the ground. It was a weird sense of peace, like a goodbye. Within minutes the phone rang. I answered and I could tell what had happened and that my mom didn’t want to tell me since I was home alone. I later found out she had called to say Grandma had passed. But I already knew…

Those are the memories of my Grandma Janet as I recall.