Remembering Aunt Jane!

WOW! This blog post has certainly been something special to work on because it was something that I have been wanting to do for my family for some time now and at last, it has been completed.

Being in such a large family like mine is, we have gone through a lot together in our lives. Recently we lost my Uncle Rick and Uncle Dave as well as my cousin Brett and my Uncle Rocky before that. Rest In Peace to you all! Miss you greatly! 🙏🙏🙏

So my goal was to help bring back some happy memories for my family!

The reason I chose to write this was for one, this year marks 40 years since the tragic death of Aunt Jane. And second, honestly, I never got to know her, so I wanted to help get the family together and learn about her. As you see, she had passed away in 1986 while I was born in 1990.

And boy! Did I ever learn a lot about her 😁. The common theme throughout my journey into learning about Aunt Jane was that she was such a kind and gentle soul who cared deeply for her family. Here are some of those stories.

The first person to answer some of my questions was my Uncle Rick. Some of his stories were funny and brought some laughter to everyone. One such story was how she and my Aunt Rhonda scared them.

"I remember as a little boy Jane and Rhonda, dressed up as scary people in their bedroom at night and told us little boys to come in and they shined a flashlight on their faces and scared us boys to death," Rick laughed. "But she was a very kind hearted person."

Next on the list was my Uncle Galen. He told me about a couple of times where Aunt Jane and him found themselves into some silly trouble.

"She was a good mother to her kids and wife to her husband Steve. I remember back when we were young and we had an outhouse and she locked it on the outside and I was stuck. I had to tell her to get our mom to let me out and it took a while for her to understand that," Galen said. "Me and her run away from home one day and we went to our Aunt and Uncle's house. But on the way, we saw Uncle Dick coming in his pickup truck and we jumped into the ditch but he saw us and took us home and we were in big trouble, Mom was not happy."

My Uncle Jay had plenty to say about my Aunt Jane when I had asked about her to him. He told me one about her dog Sarge who was big on protecting the family.

"She was a great sister. We played waffleball together, we were pretty close, she was an amazing sister," Jay said. "I always loved her German Shepard, Sarge, he was a good watch dog. He wouldn't let anyone near the kids."

One of the first people I had told about my project was my Aunt Rhonda who was very encouraging about me writing this and I just wanted to say thank you for your support. She too discussed at length about how wonderful my Aunt Jane was.

"Janie was beautiful inside and out. She was my best friend who encouraged me. She also requested me to iron her hair prior to going to school in the morning," Rhonda said. "Janie was a very loving wife and mother. She adored her family, a great cook and baked yummy chocolate chip cookies. She introduced me to real butter 😁. But thing is she accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. Love Jane and miss her but I'll see her again."

My Aunt Diane and I also had a nice chat about Aunt Jane. Understandably so, she had a tough time putting into words how much she loved her. But she was able to tell me some beautiful stories about her and also one time where she scared herself silly while trying to sled.

"She was a wonderful sister, always polite, I never had any issues with her," Diana said. "Our yard was a hill and it was nothing but a sheet of ice during the winter. Jane really wanted to go sledding so mom gave her a lid from the washer. She flew down the yard and into the field from across the road."

Now from a sweet story to a completely unexpected one from my Uncle Ffej (Jeff spelled backwards). He told me about a time where he was little and did something stupid and rightfully got in trouble for it.

"I remember when I was four and snuck up on Jame and shot her in the butt with BB gun. I got into trouble for that," Ffej remembered. "But I love her and miss her. She always took care of us, got us stuff for Christmas. She was a loving sister."

Another great story came from my Father, he told me about the time when he was young and he along with my Aunt Jane and Uncle Mark who was a child at this time when to the beach and avoided a scary situation.

"Jane was a great sister, I remember her always cutting my hair." Dad said. "Her and Steve took Mark and I to Rehoboth beach one day and Mark for lost, we found him walking behind two police officers. Love her and miss her."

Some more fun stuff I learned about Aunt Jane came from my Aunt Carol. She told me a silly story about Aunt Jane.

"When we were younger and all four of us girls were in the bedroom, Jane was like watch me and she ended up putting her foot right through the window. She didn't hurt her foot, but mom was not too happy," Carol said. "She was just a good person, a good mother, she had more patience than I ever would."

Last, but certainly not least, was my cousin Mike Henry who reached out when he was told about my project. Mike is Aunt Jane's eldest who was only 14 when she passed, now he is 54. He told me some great stories from his childhood and helped provide some of the cool photos of Aunt Jane. Shout Out to Mike! Thank you for your kind words and support!

"She was an amazing mom! I can say this confidently because what I do remember is her love, kindness, charity, and selflessness," Mike said. "I do recall are visits to the sale in Belleville so I could see the animals, occasional trips to Reading or State College to get school clothes. She mended emotional and sometimes physical hurts when my brother and I would argue or fight. She loved her brothers and sisters as I remember that on many Sundays we gathered at Grandma Yoder's house and it was overflowing with family."

WOW! I learned a lot to say the least about my Aunt Jane and I can honestly say that I wish she was still around. I would have loved to have met her. I would also like to thank my family for taking the time to answer some of my questions and I pray that you will all enjoy this little tribute to her. For we never know when it is our time to leave this Earth. So cherish every moment you can with the people you love.

Speaking of prayer, although I never got to meet Aunt Jane, I wish to give her this little gift. A poem if you will.

As you lay there peacefully down on the grassy knoll, for you have now reached your Heavenly goal. We will always love and miss your beautiful soul.

But we take comfort in the fact, that you no longer feel pain. Rest easy, sweet, sweet Aunt Jane!

Until Next Time!

God Bless and Be Safe Everybody! 🙏🙏🙏