Mumsy called this afternoon to let me know Aunt Janice passed away this morning. Here she is in 1942 with her brother (my grandfather) Ernest, father and mother. Isn't she beautiful?
I have great memories of being in Aunt Janice's home in Salt Lake. First and foremost, it was CLEAN and smelled great (like clean and eucalyptus and good food). Despite the prevailing cleanliness I don't remember feeling stifled in her home, as if we couldn't do anything or touch anything. There aren't many homes out there that are clean and comfortable.
Aunt Janice was also VERY kind. I remember having the privilege of riding with her in her Cadillac from Salt Lake to Huntsville, up the canyon to the McKay family home. The canyon road is not kind to those of us prone to motion sickness and I got car sick, but was determined to not throw up. I almost made it. I threw up all over her purse just before I got out of the car at our destination - ouch. She didn't say a word (in my memory anyhow, and that's all that counts, right?).
Aunt Janice had a stroke 15-20 years ago and was seriously disabled. She lost speech and many other abilities. I remember her getting sad a frustrated because she wasn't able or allowed to help in the kitchen any more - grrrrrr. I also remember her face totally lighting up whenever I went with my mom to see her. She and my mom were good friends. Mom used to go up to Janice's house in SLC from BYU to escape when life got to be too much. Aunt Janice would feed her good on chocolate cake and stay up late to watch M.A.S.H. She was a gem. She also was happy to see me, which always made me feel very special, since I was only one of lots of great nieces and nephews.
I feel very grateful she has finally been released from a very broken body. She really was a classy, kind, gracious, and wonderful lady and I can't wait to meet her again, whole and beautiful with a chocolate cake!
4 comments:
I loved Aunt Janice's backyard. It had a bunch of trees around the edges that we would run around in. It was magical as a kid. I remember thinking that Cadillac was the nicest car ever.
Will you write my obituary? I don't even know Aunt Janice and I started crying just reading that. She sounds amazing. Happy day for her - dying sounds so great when you get to that point...(that sounds really morbid - I am not anxious to die right now, but I sure will be when I hit my late 80's/90's).
Remember when you cut your head in the back yard and Jack had to stich you up? I think you were about 4. There was blood all over the snow, and I just kept thinking how you'd ruined the nice white snow....I know selfish little kid!
Anyway, I always remember playing school in her basement becasuse she had those old fashioned desks and the yellow bathroom down stairs. We always wanted to stay in Laurel's room too and thought it quite the treat when we got to.
Those were the best utah memories for me as well. I LOVED Aunt Janice's house, the smell, the fun, the food. She is a great lady!
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