It still seems impossible that Shirley can be gone from this Earth. Two weeks, and it doesn't seem real, that Shirley couldn't resist aging, illness, gravity, and time to go on living and living and living.
Her smile and laugh were always present. She had an outlook on life that kept her buoyant in every circumstance. As the last-born in our family, and my mother as the first-born, she might have been considered “spoiled” or entitled. But Shirley didn't have it easy. She just worked hard for the other goals: joy, contentment, giving. She had a positive attitude that infected everyone she touched. I want to think I was special, because I spent so much time with her before Jody was born, and in my teen years. But her gift was to make everyone feel like that.
Shirley taught me how to use a sewing machine, make tuna fish salad, and hard-boil eggs. The home she and Bob shared was a refuge for a teenager. It was no problem to sit up half the night eating cookies and watching Johnny Carson. That never would have played at my house. I helped Shirley high-light her hair, and put wild wallpaper in her bathroom. My mom had one hairstyle her entire life of 85 years, and “wild” was not a word to describe my house. The two sisters couldn't be more different, but I learned from both of them. I am so thankful to have had Shirley's big heart where there was room to explore and break the rules. She would never turn down a good sale at Grant's because the carpet needed sweeping.
I cannot recall in my lifetime seeing anyone so distraught as Shirley at Nanny Jones' memorial service. Her ability to grieve was a huge as her ability to experience joy. It's a comfort to know she and Nanny are back together, as well as all the Jones siblings, their spouses, and Elsie and Les. It doesn't stop the pain, but it helps.
Jan Shriver - Monday June 26, 2017 via Condolence Message
