Tribute to Aunt Joyce by James Mixson

Good morning.

I’m a nephew of Aunt Joyce. Her sister, Gladys, was my mother. Mama and Aunt Jjoyce were bosom buddies. Until and beyond the end. Mama’s been dead for 25 years, yet Lois tells me that Aunt Joyce had many conversations with Mama in recent weeks. Who are we to question the reality of those conversations? In more recent days, Lois tells me that Aunt Joyce would either be asleep or awake singing. I remember enjoying many many “sing fests” with all those brothers and sisters over the years. Perhaps Aunt Joyce was practicing as she would soon join that big “sing fest” that lasts forever.

Before her death, my mother told a lot of her life story to her pastor, Dr. Kenneth Vickery. He published her story and many others in a series of books entitled “In Honor of People Like Us”. I’d like to share with you a paragraph from it where Mama describes some work/play involving her and Aunt Joyce.

“…Gladys and sister Joyce used to play together a lot. One job they had around the farm was to keep the birds from eating the berries in the strawberry patch. I hear they used to pretend to build their houses at opposite ends of the rows of strawberries—then they could go visit each other; they had to have something to do—the birds stayed away while they were there. One time they became bored. Gladys had the gun and nothing to shoot at, so they left the patch and went down to the pond to shoot ducks. Don’t know if they shot any ducks but when they returned to the patch, the birds were having a field day. Yeah, their Pa got mad at them—but they probably learned a lesson in responsibility. …”

Aunt Joyce’s passing on Saturday hit me very hard. Yet I had known and accepted for weeks that it was inevitable…and even for the best. I was in our kitchen, tears flowing down my cheeks, when Lori, my wife, came in to console me. I said to her “She was Mama’s best friend.” Lori’s response: “Yes, and they’re now singing together again.” Indeed, they are. Bosom buddies singing and playing as they had done so much in the years past.