A time to be born, and a time to die
A time to plant, and a time to uproot
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain
A time to search, and a time to give up
A time to keep, and a time to throw away
A time to tear and a time to mend
A time to be silent and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to hate
A time for war and a time for peace.
rest in peace my dear cousin Joanne Christiansen, you were only 33 years young!
Last summer I went to Orlando with my friends and asked them to drive me, the 2 1/2 hrs to see my Palm Coast family, which consists of my Aunt B, Uncle D, cousin Joanne, and a whole bunch of other cousins. I told my friends, I know it will be my last visit with my cousin Joanne. I am pretty sure she didn't recognize me, I would love to think its the weight loss & blonde hair, but, I know better.
That visit was bitter sweet, it was great seeing them, all, but, I also saw a young woman who turned into a vegetable, she was down to 80lbs and my aunt & uncle had to do everything for her, it was so very sad, for her & for them!
So, today in memory of Joanne, I will enclose my last picture with her.
Joanne loved careoke, and it has been ages since she has been able to participate in that, she has had no quality of life, and spent a lot of days not knowing who her family members were.
My AUnt B & Uncle D are 2 amazing people, I can remember them as far as I can remember back, my Uncle D is my God father, and he has always been there for me, and he always had such a happy disposition, STOP LAUGHING AUNT B!!! except when he spent 5 long days with Cody...LOL, Trust me the Pope would struggle for 5 days with Cody.
My aunt & uncle had a son, Donald, he & I were the same age, and in 7th grade he passed away from complications from spina biffida, they were told they had a genetic defect and it wasn't a good idea to have children, they also experienced miss carriages, and a still birth. SO, they adopted Joanne! I can still remember, as a kid, how they were absolutely glowing, she was everything to them!
They are the type of people that just adore children, and if you are part of their world, you know it, they deserved to have many children.
Their life was always difficult, they worked hard for everything they had, and they deserved ever bit of it, they were kind, thoughtful, & loving, and if you were lucky enough to be in their family, you were a better person for it.
When in wal mart in 2007 AUnt B referred to me as her niece, and my heary sunk, I felt so special, because in reality, we are related differently, my dad & Uncle D are first cousins who grew up together, so we always called him uncle, but, he is actually my dads cousin.
ANytime we went to FLorida they showed us a good time, and treated us like royalty, we especially loved our trips to Friendly's oh how I miss that place!!! Someone have a vanilla fribble for me, please!!
In HS I worked in JC Penney and they would come in through the mens entrance, all 3 of them, and stop and talk to me, if it were slow, and Joanne would talk & talk & talk, sound familiar??
In 1982 I had my son Daniel, and she & Daniel would play together, and I will never forget, Joanne had Sesame St sheets, and Daniel LOVED the count, and I could not find sheets with the count on them, ANYWHERE. Well, Joanne had Sesame St sheets with the count, and she said the count had teeth!! and it bothered her, so she gave them to Daniel!! Daniel was so excited & happy, and he could care less if there were teeth or not!
You take all the funny moments for granted, and we all get caught up in our own "stuff" and forget to spend time with the ones we love, weather it's in person, on the phone, by emails. Those who mean the world to you, let them know, because you never know when it is too late. We all think we have forever to live!
Cody & I went to see them in Sept 2007, and Jennifer spent a few summers there and I have been back atleast once a year since 07. Things won't be the same w/o Joanne, or Jo Jo as she liked to be called.
My poor Aunt & Uncle know,know no other life, but to care for their daughter, that has been their life, routine for well over a year now, it is going to be so hard for them to "find" a new niche in life, Thankfully, they have 2 little granddaughters, and I can personally tell you, grandchildren are the best medicine!!
Joanne was way too young to die, a few years ago, 07 she was diagnosed with MS, and she sure didn't have long, it just doesn't seem fair.
I remember my sister in law Tammy's shower, my mom was angry with me, so I left the shower and sat in the spare room, and Joanne came in, asking me what was wrong, and trying to talk me into going back to the party, she was that kind of girl.
I am sorry she suffered so much, and am glad she is in a better place, no longer suffering, but, I worry for my aunt & uncle, because she was their life, their everything, it is hard enough losing 1 child but 2, how do you get past that? how do you not get angry with God?
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