Joann, I cannot stop writing about you on my heart...

 Her Ordinary Life

 

She was a girl friend and a mom,

A wife, an adventure partner,

She was a buddy to some,

Her wink famous to others,

Some heard her disappointments,

Others her cries or laughter,

Only intimates heard it all.

 

She fussed about her house,

Keeping two of them for balance,

Both necessary to keep her job,

Both supports to her ability;

She commuted to work, driving,

Crossed a border, left home,

Got home again, to her work.

 

A lifetime’s work, to listen, to love,

She ached when she got news

Learning something had happened,

At her other home, or with you,

The distance a price she paid, to be

 This quiet lady from Bellingham,

This extraordinary lady from Haven,

One place seeing her ordinary days,

The other demanding her best daily.

 

Her life was designed to fit her,

It allowed her to access her every part,

She expressed herself powerfully,

And never gave away her heart,

She simply entered the moment,

Sharing each electric reality,

Bathing herself in her commitments,

To love, to be honest and here,

For “Pete”, her boys, the grandkids, friends - and us,

Us being the other family she loved,

Where she worked, she fretted, she was,

As if it was all seamless, all tied into one,

Her life had meaning, it was pushed forward,

Relentlessly, she grew, she saw, she taught,

By word, by example, by her silent witness,

Joann lived her ordinary life fully,

The life for which she had fought.

 

Dale Partridge

January 18, 2007

Forgive my use of the familiar “Pete”. While I have never met him, Joann’s love and enjoyment of her husband was so frequently shared, often in parables or insights that caused me to understand something, often for the first time – I feel close to him and Joann’s much loved family. It’s as if the unique lifestyle that they created together was such a gift to me and thousands of others, as we all spent so much time with this amazing woman over the years.