Wasn’t she beautiful?!? Aunt Joanie (actually Ruth Joan Kay) was born 25 May 1930, in Youngstown, NY. She was the seventh child born to Grandma Loretta Garvey Kay and Grandpa Howard Bertram Kay. She was their second to last child. As you can tell by this photo, Aunt Joanie was always a beauty.
Aunt Joan was always a second mother to Mary Leta and me, first taking care of us for 4 weeks in 1958 while our own mother, Margie Kay Whalen, was undergoing her first heart surgery. I was four at that time and Mary was just a year and a half old. We lived at Aunt Joan and Uncle Mike’s home while Mom recuperated, and I remember it as a wonderful time. Kerry, who is my age, and I “skated” in our sock feet on Aunt Joan’s hardwood floors and each night we fought with each other about which one of us would get to use our favorite blue plate at dinner.
Mary probably doesn’t remember it, but she was so enamored with Aunt Joan, that when she and Uncle Mike took us back to Sackets to return us to our parents, Mary cried when our mom tried to take her. She thought Aunt Joanie was her mommy and didn’t want to leave her arms. That of course made our mom cry too. Kerry remembers that Aunt Joan suggested that Mom let her (Aunt Joan) put her to bed that night and that all would be better in the morning. And apparently it was.
Aunt Joanie continued to be a loving surrogate mother to me all through my growing up years, most especially after Mom died in 1969. We never made a trip to Youngstown, before or after that date, without my spending at least one night in her home. Even after I was married, she welcomed David and our Kerry, Jr. into her circle of love and kept us all there until the day she died. I will never forget her, and will always be grateful to and for her. I love her always.
What a beautiful tribute to your Aunt Joan.