12/1/81, a great day as we became parents for the first time . . . Alison turns 40! 
by Bill Jones

(Scroll to the end for links to my previous 9 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.)

This time of year – Thanksgiving week and the days following – have had an extra-special meaning for our family through the years. This year, Travis’s birthday – November 25 – fell on Thanksgiving Day. He turned 36. We (I still speak in plurals – Joanna is very much present in my heart) have been so proud of Travis – he has met the many obstacles in his way with courage, perseverance, and grace.

Today, Alison hits a particularly special milestone – “the big 4-0.” (I’ve always hated it when people say it that way, but it’s almost unavoidable, so I decided not to avoid it – this time.)

Now all of us – yours truly, our kids, our four grandkids, and our son-in-law – have experienced our first birthdays without Joanna. As she would have wanted, we have still celebrated those milestones as a family, loving and congratulating each other, and knowing that she’s likely very present with us; we just can’t see her.

With Alison turning 40 today, I wanted to share my memory of that day, followed by a few photos surrounding her birth and some showing her grow through the following couple of years.

Joanna’s due date for our first child was November 20. By the way, this was back in the day when we didn’t get to know the gender beforehand – with either of our children – so we got to be surprised both times, and both were wonderful surprises. Anyway, by November 30, that child – girl or boy – was already 10 days late, and we (especially Joanna) were getting anxious. I have images in my mind of us still practicing the Lamaze exercises (we had an excellent Lamaze instructor, Diana Steinmetz – can’t believe I still remember that name) that Monday evening and timing contractions on an index card. It seems to me, too, that Mother had already arrived for the big event and was there to help in any way she could.

We went to sleep that night, still wondering when that baby would finally arrive. Then, around 3 a.m., Joanna woke me with the news that her water had broken. It’s hard to believe now, but Joanna was remarkably calm and controlled – and organized (in other words, she was no different than she was any other day). Contractions weren’t coming close together, so she didn’t feel any particular sense of urgency. It would be around 5:30 – as I recall – before she would call Dr. Hutto’s office to inform him. In the meantime, she wanted to be ready to put on her best face before going to the hospital. So she took a shower, did her hair (whatever that means), etc. And you’ll never believe what calm-and-collected Bill did for the next 2 hours, while Joanna was getting herself ready for our child’s birth. I went downstairs and watched the late movie (on a local station – this was several years before we got cable). For the next 2 hours, I watched Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in Road to Morocco. (Why couldn’t it have been Road to Hong Kong? What with Joanna’s heritage, it would have made for a much better story!)

Anyway, we called Dr. Hutto’s office around 5:30, and he told us to go on to the hospital (Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, a suburb on the western edge of Denver). However, we had to make a stop on the way, and I’m not sure Joanna ever got over this – but believe me, it was important. We had to stop at my office.

Two months earlier, I had been promoted to supervisor of the Billing Adjustments unit at Mountain Bell. Unfortunately, I had a disgruntled employee, who happened to be my assistant (“Supervisory Clerk” was her title); she had been assistant to the previous supervisor, too, and had expected to get that job when it became available. I hadn’t worked in the unit previously, which gave her reason to be even more resentful. So from Day One, she had been working to undermine me, making complaints to the union about me, and so forth. On the way to the hospital that morning, it occurred to me that I couldn’t trust Elouise with my files; there were sensitive materials in there – personnel files for all of the clerks (including her), notes from my meetings with the union, etc. So I HAD to stop at the office and lock up my desk so she couldn’t get at those files. Let’s just say it didn’t make me too popular with Joanna.

As it turned out, though, there was no particular urgency to get to the hospital. Alison was already 11 days late, and she would make us wait for another 10 hours or so through a prolonged labor. Finally, she made her first appearance at 5:48 that evening. I was in the room, the first person (other than Dr. Hutto) to see her emerge from the birth canal. Mother had called Daddy from the hospital that morning, and he had gotten the next plane to Denver, so he arrived at the hospital that evening.

Joanna and I had a brand new baby daughter. We named her Alison Carlene Jones. She was beautiful like her mama, and she has grown more beautiful with each passing year, as she became a wife and then a mom herself to three wonderful children. We are so proud of her. She and Adam have made a wonderful home together, as full partners (as Joanna and I were) in the rearing of their kids. She has carved out a devoted career as a public school teacher; she has spent much of that time as a team leader, giving direction to her team of teachers. That’s not to mention the cookie-baking business she started while taking a couple of years off from teaching . . . her cookies (and cakes, too) were much in demand, and Joanna and I were always impressed by the creativity she put into them.

In recent years, Alison has been reading up on matters of social justice and has become an impassioned advocate for those Jesus called “the least of these.” In March, she told me about the local rally for AAPI lives, organized by the Asian American Christian Collaborative, and we went together, where we held a picture of Joanna, who had spoken out passionately, just weeks before she passed away, against the racial hatred directed toward Asian Americans. Joanna and I have been so proud to see Alison taking stands like these.

Okay, let’s get on to the pictures. Here are a few pictures of Alison’s early days – and early years – that I’ve selected. Enjoy!

My previous 9 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing on February 14, 2021:

11/14/21 – Journeying with Joanna . . . Photo memories from a half-century (almost) of our travels together
9/14/21 – Pictures, pictures, pictures . . . remembering my wonderful trip with Joanna to Hong Kong, Beijing, and Macao 10 years ago this week
9/4/21 – Joanna and I were married 45 years ago today . . . Missing her and celebrating her
8/14/21 – Six months after Joanna’s passing . . . remembering her humor and all that she meant to me
7/14/21 – Five months after Joanna’s passing . . . remembering the lively soul who brought us joy
6/14/21 – Four months after Joanna’s passing . . . a few personal reflections
3/19/21 – Joanna spoke out against demeaning racial slurs and the fears they caused her as an Asian-American
2/22/21 – How Joanna and I got together . . . the beginning of our love story
2/19/21 – The painful journey that took the love of my life, Joanna . . . to the great heavenly banquet