Monday, December 12, 2016
I have known Aunt Joy my entire life. She served as fill-in mother often in my childhood for pre-school and after school caretaker. She was a classic country lady who had an aire of mystery sometimes. She told us stories of her early adventures of travel across the nation as a young Army bride.
As one of her gospel quartet "roadies" along with my siblings and her own kids, we had some adventures experiencing the great Smoky Mountains and some pretty remote radio and television stations as well as a dozen churches, revivals and even an orphanage across Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. When my mind wanders freely sometimes, I catch myself humming one of those old gospel tunes.
I looked forward to stopping to visit her at Martha Lane in Morrow when visiting from college and when I join the "service" to go fly Navy spy planes. She was so excited to listen to my stories and she would recall one of her own adventures. She was an excellent story teller and a good listener.
She will always be a reminder to me what a generous and kind woman is made of in spirit, beauty and grace. Seeing Joy get her hair done with her elderly mother was one of my favorite times. While training for a 100 mile bike race my senior year of high school, I would circuit train to grandma's or her house from Cincinnati and rest, gab with her, granny and flirt with the hair stylist (or dresser as they called her back then) to demonstrate that I was a man ! I got several lectures about, "ladies" and those talks helped shape my young adulthood in a positive way that I am still grateful for today.
Eva Joy Davis Crowe brought a great spirit to any encounter. I acquired my deep love of piano music from her living example. Only in my 20's did I wonder in amazement that God could provide such talent that she played without ever been taught to read sheet music. She truely had the holy spirit in her and I know she prayed something fierce when something troubled her.
I could write a small book about the cooking and food rituals surrounding Joy's kitchen and the entire Davis and Sempsrott clans. Needless to say, we are country folk whose service in planting comes with a wealth in harvest. Any family get together wether it be a wedding or funereal, comes with tremendous energy in laughter, emotion and always sincere love.
I am not sad in many ways because I learned from much from her. One of them was "let go, let God" and believe that she is in heaven and rejoicing with our waiting loved ones.
Not good bye Aunt Joy -- see ya later, "stepping on the clouds".
Love - your adventurous nephew, Mickey
