Josie

It has been fourteen years since she died. I was in Japan when I got the call from Dad. That night I went to bed and dreamed about her. She was young, healthy, smiling, tanned and looked so beautiful. She looked so happy. The next morning I awoke and was shaken – the dream about her was so real. Maybe Dad’s telephone call had been the dream instead? I decided to call my Aunt Hilda that morning and as soon as I heard her voice I knew it had been real. Josie was gone.

Josie was the second youngest of five siblings in my Mother’s family. According to family reports Josie was spoiled from the get go. In her father’s eyes she could do no wrong, which of course sometimes frustrated the other children, including my Mom. While the older siblings were in school, Josie would get into their “stuff.” All the precious little items that at the time meant so much to them, such as make up samples betrothed onto them by their mother. Coming home to find Josie “made-up” with their makeup smeared all over her face resulted in an immediate kerfuffle. In later years Josie said to my Mother “I remember thinking that you hated me” and without skipping a beat my Mother replied “Because I often did” after which they broke into peels of laughter.

There are many others who know so many more of the details of Josie’s life than I. Time and time again, I’ve heard how incredibly popular Josie was and that always had “a million” friends. She was a beauty queen having been crowned “Queen of the Sea” while in high school, and she always had a boyfriend. She had it all. My childhood memories of Josie include images of many weekends she came to spend with us at the farm. My mother always looked forward to these visits. They would sit at the kitchen table and talk and smoke their brains out well into the night. It was the only time my Mother smoked, which I still find strange, but I believe they had a hell of a time. Looking back now, I realize that Mom and Josie were the most alike in their dispositions. They were both very secure in themselves, loved to laugh, have fun and enjoy life. They were both so real – nothing phoney at all – and that was what attracted people to them.



All of us in bed with Josie...when we were not supposed to be!

Josie married Jimbo, and we all thought the world of him. I remember bits and pieces of her wedding day. I remember Mom’s pink bridesmaid dress (which was later cut to a knee length dress that our cousin Maura wore to a prom dance) and how sweet Erica looked as her flower girl. I was in charge of throwing the confetti outside the church and was reminded on more than one occasion by Josie how I threw it in one big lump onto her head when she exited the church. All I remember is being nervous and letting it go, which in retrospect proved to be an early example of how I do not work well under pressure.

Josie and Jim bought a home on Queen Elizabeth Drive in Charlottetown and it was a home I would come to know well. After graduation, I moved into ‘town’ at ca. seventeen years of age and where I spent the subsequent two years. At that time, I shared a two bedroom apartment with three other girls and yes, it was hell. So during those two years, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say I spent the majority of my time at Josie’s house when I wasn’t at school or working. I had started my undergraduate studies at the local University and I worked at Cows on evenings and weekends. I often had to work late shifts and instead of taking a cab home, Josie often offered to come and get me. I can still see her waiting in the car for me on Queen’s Street. We’d go back to her place and would sit up watching late night TV, and I always stayed for the night. We had so many great chats and of course a lot of laughs. She was so easy to be with and she made me feel so loved. I am so grateful for those memories and for that time in my life.

At a very young age Josie was diagnosed with Chron’s Disease and it was a bad case from the outset. She had countless surgeries numerous periods of remission. When Josie was well, the world was hers. But when she was sick, she was naturally like a different person. The large doses of prednisone she took over the years resulted in her bones becoming very brittle very quickly. A number of effects and side effects from Chron’s Disease ultimately took their toll and Josie died in September of 1997. She left us much sooner than she should have, but we knew she was in a much better place. Her final days in this world were incredibly difficult and painful for her.

This time every September, I inevitably think of Josie. I think of her beautiful brown sparkling eyes and her laughter. I think of her manicured nails that often held a cigarette in place. I think of her and my mother sitting at our kitchen table in Greenwich talking and laughing. I think of all the good times and positive things, and am not sad because I truly believe she is in a better place. And I know she is still talking, laughing and making friends easily.