Jean, Cousin Diane, & Trudy @ Wedding/Jean with Baby Ottawa

My marriage to Drew a year ago was cause for celebration - a celebration that included a family reunion. Jean was my Matron of Honor and key in the planning and execution of a near flawless event. Many of the Arnold clan (Fran's side of the family) gathered here in South West Florida - some from as far away as New Hampshire, including our dear Aunt Helen. It was especially fun as many in attendance were cousins that Jean and I had not seen since our childhood summers at Grammy & Grampy's camp in Maine.

The next day, Jean hosted a brunch for the relatives - many stories, laughs, and Bloody Marys were shared. Jean did double duty that day as she was also babysitting our kids (quite spoiled ones) - Kevin & Shelly (Chihuahuas) and Ottawa (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) - while Drew and I spent a few days away. She was wise enough to wait until we got back (I checked on them several times by phone) to tell me that Kevin was nearly inconsolable at times, howling in the window thinking that his mama had left him. Ah, the duties of an aunt!!

The corner of Allen and Park Ave.

Yes, Jean and her family had a Park Avenue address! No, not NYC, welcome to Athol, Massachusetts! There are so many memories of Jean, Trudy and I hanging out together...a few that I would like to share.

I met Jean and Trudy a week before school started, mine and Trudy's freshman year. I had been away all summer at our house in New Hampshire, and didn't realize that a new pastor and his family had moved in. I was pleasantly surprised when I met Jean and Trudy, (girlfriends! Yeah!) because I had lived on Allen St. my whole life and the neighborhood was all boys. Because I had lived next door forever, I knew the inside of the house like the back of my hand. I used to sneak into the kitchen and slip up the back stairs to hang out, unbeknownst to Fran and Nit. (Nit, our nickname for Jack, I don't remember where or why??)

Fran and Nit endured hours and hours of us listening to the 8-track tape deck with Joe Walsh, Bad Finger, or Jethro Tull blaring. We spent many Sunday afternoons eating popcorn, drinking grape juice and listening to Deep Purple. Poor Christopher Robin, we teased him relentlessly. To this day, when I hear "Smoke on the Water", I'm back at Park Avenue with Jean and Trudy.

Jean's first crush??? Johnny P. We teased her relentlessly too!!

One winter, Trudy and I wore full length, wool Army coats and Jean wore a Navy one. It was all the rage in high school. We "borrowed" them from our dads or uncles, since most of them had been in WWII or the Korean War. I think they weighed about 100 lbs...they were very heavy! But, because they were cool, and lots of our friends were wearing them, we wore them!

Jean, Trudy and I had many, many teenage experiences together...some to share, some to keep private. I'll end here for now.

Jeanne
(or, as Fran used to say, "little Jeannie from next door"...get it? Jean and Jeanne - both pronounced the same. It was her way to refer to me.)

Collections

Jean and I have had many a laugh over the years at what Jean calls her best "Trudy Story", one she has shared with many. We go back to high school and Miss Brown's Biology class. Part of my obligation to fulfill course requirements was the assembling of various "collections" during the year. In Baker tradition, they became family projects. Those of you who knew Jack and Fran, know that we were not the outdoor type of family. Jean led the way through the woods in search of the right colors for the leaf collection, and was out in front of us with a jar and a butterfly net to get the specimens for the "bug" collection. The last collection of the year was one of fruit. Being a bit rebellious and very much over collections by that point, I assembled the final one myself.
Each time Jean told the story, she would laugh and laugh as she recounted my wiping off the heavy syrup from the pieces of fruit as I took them from the can to pin onto the styrofoam board. What put her on the floor every time was my placement of the final piece in the middle of the collection - a marachino cherry!!

Act Early - Acting Out

Jean,
Over a Christmas break at the Univ. of Georgia you and I ate pizza and keyboarded away putting together a proposal that became the ACT Early Project - Advancing the Competencies of Teachers for Early Interventions With Youth At-Risk for Emotional, Behavioral, and Academic Problems...what a time that was, having Aderhold Hall quietly to ourselves as we wrote and edited. Little did I anticipate they would actually give us money to go out and have a wonderful and creative experience studying the individual, group, and systemic characteristics of students, their teachers, and their schools. What a delight, and truly rewarding. The project continued for three years with our ACT Early Team developing a culture of creative scholarship, with you, Randy Kamphous, and our graduate students working to change the world of assessment, evaluation, policy, and intervention. Then Michigan State called, but we continued the project another 4 years, and low and behold, students are still using the data today to make sense out of how our students develop and how teachers address the problems of individual and systemic behavior. A lot of "professorese" discussion to say: that was the most creative set of years and the most enjoyable and fun research project I've ever engaged in. You, my friend, happen to have been the spark, the element of creativity, the surge of energy, that made this project great. I learned an enormous amount from you and Randy and our students, and I continue to marvel at the shared experiences we had. And the great wine and bourbon discussions marked the memory well also.
I am still irked that Michigan State got you - we had such a wonderful team - and I miss the friendship. Thanks for reaching out and helping maintain the contacts all these years. We'll get LIFE done and then move on to other fun ways to be connected.
Now, as to recipes - our recipes were for fun and creativity...yet we cooked up some great plans, interventions, and projects. Thanks!
Hugs...Andy

Dunwurken

This is my very first entry on a blog, anywhere, ever... So I'm not quite sure if there is a protocol. But honestly, I've never been real concerned with protocol, so here goes...

Thoughts of Jean bring me right back to childhood summers at Grampy's camp on Little Pushaw Lake. Every summer I spent a week or two up there with the Baker's. My sweetest memory may be of the three of us - Trudy, Jean and me - jumping out of Grampy's small fishing boat, naked, into the the lake. Such a sweet innocence to it...

I remember Trudy and Jean were really into Batman and Robin, which is something I never could understand.

Another thing I never understood back then, but what I finally came to understand when I had my own child, was what I thought was this imaginery world that they had made up with their soft-spoken father, Jack. It seemed to me that Jack mostly whispered all the time. And he whispered a lot to Trudy and Jean. They made a lot of references to Pooh and Piglet. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I did know that they had a magical relationship with their father...one I envied. When my son, Tucker, was a few years old, we were introduced to the movies of Winnie the Pooh. They were delightful, and I was shocked to find that Winnie the Pooh had been a classic children's book , and the source of the magical world that I thought Trudy, Jean and Jack had created.

My summers at Dunwurken with Trudy and Jean are my favorite childhood memories. The end.

Recipies From Jean

God I do not know what I would have done with out her help. Amen

Jean is guided by several first principles.

1. Do it right the first time.
2. Always think six steps ahead
3. Peace and balance
4. Take time to enjoy life
5. It is hard for me to remember all of these so please add your own stories as to things that Jean has taught you or that you hold in common with her or taught her.

I'll add more as I go on.

The first step

Dear Friends and family,

We had a great Christmas, filled with all of the traditions of the season. The whole family attended Christmas Eve service at http://www.allsaints-el.org/

Spirits are strong as we walk through the valley.

Jean’s cancer has returned and has spread throughout her body. She is taking chemo therapy and I am praying that she will recover her strength. Two weeks ago I grew so concerned with her condition I called Hospice. The time for their care has not come. Her spirits are strong and we have many kind and loving friends that are praying for us and supporting us in many ways.

I invite your participation in this online forum.

Warm regards,

Watts