Thursday, August 11, 2022
Aunt Jo - my Godmother! Where do I start. One of most touching memories was when I was a student at Academy of St. Dorothy and my mom had returned to work. So I was a latchkey kid, too old for the school bus and too young for the public bus alone. Aunt Jo would scoop me up when she was picking up Cathy, Troy and Karen and drive me home. It was the best 15 minutes of my day, which was saying a lot because I LOVED school - lol. I loved the banter, and just being with her. She made a mundane commute FUN somehow. Anything you did with Aunt Jo was always fun. Well after a few rides home she must have sensed my reluctance to leave her car when she dropped me off so she began inviting me to HER house instead after school. I remember she said to me “ you don’t want to go home to an empty house DO You? Not wanting to impose I must have hesitated, but She made the decision for me, because the next thing I know she swung that green Datsun right up Rice Ave. And every day thereafter, that’s where I would spend a glorious two hours till my mom picked me up !!! I would get to sit at the coniglione kitchen table and do my home work while she did laundry, prepped dinner and gave us snacks. I had never had a cheese puff or a pop tart in my life, and couldn’t believe the plethora of snacks she would retrieve from the shelf above the washing machine. She made everything so fun and lively - I’m surprised I got any homework done at all. It was all fun and games when you were with Josephine. But this memory illustrates how very intuitive and kind she was as well. And this is a merely childhood memory that, while profound, is just the tip of the iceberg of the way her presence was wound into the fabric of my life. How I grew to love her even more and appreciate her fun loving, raucous humor over the years. She impressed me so with her quick wit and irreverence! But the funniest thing of all time was watching her learn and get mad at the computer in our office. It was a sight to behold!! Stories of “ the office” abound. We laughed so hard in the office - she enjoyed it so much and needless to say the patients LOVED her back! Aunt jo you are loved and will be missed by MANY - some who knew you for minutes and some who were lucky enough to share their whole lives with you!
