About
Jo Ann + June

I suppose it’s common when we lose a loved one to sift through memories of them and reminisce about their life. We’re so desperate to feel them close that we begin to recall things we might have forgotten or stories we hadn’t heard in many years. We analyze our relationship with them, and see all of the ways they impacted our lives and all of the ways we may have taken them for granted; then, we find ourselves growing nostalgic and our hearts aching to return to those times and places we can only visit in our memories.

Perhaps this experience isn’t the case for everyone who has suffered loss, but it was for me after losing my paternal grandmother, Jo Ann. I began to think about her and all of the ways she has impacted my life. Many people say I look a lot like her, others say I have her no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach. Then I started thinking about my maternal grandma, June, who is still living, and all of the ways she has influenced me and shaped my life. I began to notice similarities and differences in my grandmothers and the pieces of my personality that came from each of them. I grabbed a pencil and reached for my sketchbook, flipped to an empty page, and drew a venn diagram. I drew two circles, making sure they overlapped. In one I wrote “Jo Ann” and in the other, “June.” I began listing their individual personality traits, hobbies and characteristics – placing them in the correct circle as they overlapped. After this quick exercise, I started to analyze the things I had written and quickly realized that in describing both of them, I was describing myself. The section where those two circles overlapped, I labeled “Kayla.”  I have always loved my grandmothers, but as I began placing those traits and characteristics in their appropriate place, I felt a connection that bound me to them in a way I never had before. This exercise awakened a desire to be vulnerable; to explore and share parts of my life so future generations can find pieces of themselves in me and, hopefully, come to know the best of Jo Ann and June…like I have.