Friday, August 23, 2019
I met Joany when she moved into her parents basement with Jon and the kids. I started babysitting for them and Joany always had licorice for me. They took me to the beach for a week to look after the kids whilst they both painted--I was probably 11 or 12 and was so impressed by a couple that did that. Their egalitarian marriage was unusual at that time. Later, I could always find a place to sleep at wherever they were living, usually for a night or a week, once for a month or so. Joany was the first adult I knew brave enough to be wacky in public, and she stayed that way. The last time I stayed with her, I made popcorn balls and we ate them while watching an opera on TV. Nothing except death could have stopped her from creating. She was serious when she needed to be and always thought of others (people and animals). Her Christian Science religion was important to her and she liked sharing the feminist bits of Mary Baker Eddy with me and discussing them, but never tried to convert me. She embraced my partner Roberta as another member of her huge family, and then our kids too. I will miss her.
Arielle and Brigitte; nephews and nieces; cousins and friends; in-laws and out-laws, I am so sorry for your loss. I thought she would go on, young and free spirited, for another decade or two, I with that had been the case.
