Good evening, blog followers.
This is Joanne's daughter (Joanne Elizabeth, aka "Beth"), and I am writing to let you all know that, despite a year of almost unbelievable comebacks from numerous traumatic events, Joanne has finally been undone by a chest scan.
At a regular visit to her GP ten days ago, to which she actually walked from the car, she was urged to go to the ER for elevated blood pressure and low O2. Unfortunately, that led to a chest scan that revealed a large tumor around her esophagus that was not there just four months earlier - completely out of the blue.
She cannot fight this one, folks. It's one thing to soldier on through a broken leg or two, but quite another to subject oneself to chemotherapy and radiation at 83. And if there is one thing Joanne has always been very clear about, it is that she intends to make her own decisions about how she lives—and how she leaves.
She has led an amazing life, and I will have much more to say on her behalf later. For now, she is in hospice, and she has asked me to reach out to all of you.
Please leave any messages for her here, and I will read them to her and relay them. I know how much the friendships and connections she has made through this blog have meant to her, and I know she will be grateful to hear from you.
That's all from the front for now.
—Joanne's daughter, Beth
Oh, Joanne. I was afraid something had happened. Just know that your fighting attitude has been an inspiration to me, and I am sure, to many others. I hope you get to vote blue in the midterms. This bs is bound to turn around, and I mean to be a part of it. Thank you for your example.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debby. Joanne says she's counting on you to be dead center of the protests that will happen between now and midterms, because this has to end.
DeleteWhen there was a long absence I thought Joanne had left us. I wish her all the best on this last journey. I have enjoyed reading here blogs over the years.
ReplyDeleteThank you. She appreciates the kind words.
DeleteBeth, thank you for sharing. I was hoping we'd hear from Joanne again, just not like this. I miss her words, and I think of her everytime I look at her red weaving on my dining table. I'm not a religious man but she's in my most earnest thoughts and wishes.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Doug. She's enjoying hearing everyone's kind words.
DeletePlease give her my very best wishes. She was always the spunkiest and courageous of women, with a well-defined wry sense of humour. I enjoyed her immensely. As she prepares for this final journey, I hope she will be pain free and find peace.
ReplyDeleteBugger Bugger Bugger……if it’s not one thing it’s another.
ReplyDeleteFight the good fight Joanne, for those who went before you and those coming after.
Love from Cathy……still clicking her knitting needles and listening to the Clancy Brothers in a cold wintery Melbourne down under.
Please give her my best, and my thoughts are with her and her family. She's been a fine blog friend for several years, although we haven't kept up in the past year or so. I still have the kitchen towels, blue and yellow, she made for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you Beth. She has given us much to admire over the years, without actually meeting her. I live in Northeast Ohio and knew many of the places she mentioned. I wish her peace and comfort.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, I've not been a commenter but I have been reading your blog for a long time and have enjoyed it a lot! Thank you! Wishing you peace on your journey forward.
ReplyDelete😢😢😢 I am so very very sorry to hear this, I enjoyed reading her blog for years and will always think of her every time I use one of her lovely teatowels. 💖💖
ReplyDeletePlease, please, please tell her how much Jennifer in South Carolina cares about her and is wishing her peace, comfort, and the quiet contentment of a life well lived as she embarks on her next journey. She is loved. <3
ReplyDeleteDear Beth, thank you so much for the message. Please tell Joanne she's so dear to all of us, particularly those who have exchanged fiber related items with her. I use the darning mushroom she gave me, and think of her every time. And I wear the vest I made from her woven fabric. She'll always be with me. I wish for peace for her.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Beth, for letting us know! Joanne has been an example to us all for feistiness. She was not a quitter! She and I are both "'43 Babies", she just three months older. I use her towels every day, and think of her without fail when I pick one up. She spent several nights here with my husband and me on her trip to Texas with Laura, so I have many memories. I am so sorry to hear about this latest development. Poor lady. I completely understand her insistence on being in charge of what happens. Hoping for ease and peace for her always! A special hug for you for being a good daughter to a special mom.
ReplyDeleteThank you Beth for keeping us updated although I am so sad to hear this news. Joanne has been such an inspiration and I was hoping she could return to blogland. I am glad she has taken charge and is moving forward with her wishes. And thank you for your support to her. Wishing her comfort and peace.
ReplyDeleteJoanne has carried on so admirably. We are all sorry that it has come to this as it must for us all in some way or other. Live life as best you can until the end, Joanne. Thank you for the blogs and comments along the way.
ReplyDeleteDear friend Joanne, you have always been an inspiration to me with your relentless energy, enthusiasm, intelligence, optimism and encouragement. Thank you for all of those things, for sharing your life with us here in the blogosphere, for your kindness and your dedication to telling it like it is, politically and otherwise. May your days be as pain-free as possible, may you take comfort from your memories and your family, may you feel our love surround you from so many corners of the world. With appreciation and love xx
ReplyDeleteJoanne, we will miss you and your writing terribly. This was a tough year for you, but you kept going. I think of you when I used the red dish towels that coordinate so nicely with my red pots.
ReplyDeleteMy heart is filled with gratitude for the years of blog posts which have entertained, inspired and educated me. Sending wishes for comfort and peace. Genie
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting all of us know about what’s transpired. I’m so sorry and please give her a ( gentle) hug from me, up here in Ontario. I only just wrote a post and was going to put a picture of my canning ( jars of pickled pepper rings) on one of the wonderful red towels she sent me, but they were both in the wash because they are still two of my favourites! Joanne, you are a force to be reckoned with. Again, I’m so sorry to hear this, but I sincerely hope you are surrounded by those who care about you, and kind, intelligent health care professionals. With love and respect, - Jenn
ReplyDeleteDear Beth, thank you for the update. Dear Joanne, sending you love and appreciation. I have been encouraged by your example, standing up when/as can. Fightin' and feisty. And I have learned from your weaving as I wandered into my own. One of your towels is a real workhorse in my kitchen. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteDear Joanne, I am so sorry to hear this news. But I am glad to hear you are in control and making your own decisions, that's the way it should be. You are a Warrior Woman, feisty and kicking butt like you always have. Thank you for all you have given this world. I am proud to know you. Farewell, my weaver friend.
ReplyDeleteGive her my love and a peaceful journey to the stars. We have followed each other for countless years, and I have learned so much from her wisdom and humour. A very special lady and a friend to all who knew and read her and bought her lovely towels.
ReplyDeleteRest easy, my friend Joanne.
XO
WWW
Beth, I don't know if Joanne will remember me, but I've followed her blog for years... also own blue, pumpkin, and aqua tea towels. She may remember me sending her a covid mask as well as 2 little cheeky chickens. But when this post poppped up, I thought, "oh good, Joanne's back"... not expecting this. Please tell her she's in my thoughts and prayers...
ReplyDeleteYou've always been an inspiration Joanne. Thanks for always fighting the good fight.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your witty and insightful words on your blog; your friendship and comments meant a lot to me over the years. I will treasure the three beautiful towels I bought from you. They are the finest quality, and I will think of you often. Much love from Margaret aka Stargazer
ReplyDeleteI 'll be thinking of you and missing your weaving... red towels adorn my stove door!!
ReplyDeleteHi Joanne. Will be thinking of you. Always my friend and loved by me. Fellow Aries, fighter and fearless. Lots of love. Rachelxx
ReplyDeleteDear Joanne, I have so enjoyed following your blog. You have been an inspiration to me in many different ways. Thank you. I hold you in my thoughts and my heart. xx
ReplyDeleteLove,
Bonnie (It Seems Like Only Yesterday)
Thank you Beth for letting us know what's happening.
ReplyDeleteAnd to Joanne, thank you for all your blog posts - it was always so good to hear about the weaving and the protesting.
Stay as strong as you can.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteOh, Beth, this was late getting delivered to my inbox, but it does not make my reponse any less meaningful: I had the greatest privilege of getting to know Joanne on a one-to-one level when I visited in 2016... I, along with so many others, miss the wonderful, fierce and inspirational posts that once appeared here. Like others, I am deeply grateful that you are going to keep us posted. Please do pass on my Love and a hug being sent all the way from Scotland. All strength and peace, Yamini xx
Thank you, Joanne, for being such a tireless advocate for what is right. I always enjoyed your posts, especially your descriptions of local news (I'm in Hudson). Holding you in my thoughts on your journey.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, I've followed your blog for years and haven't said much. You wrote once years ago that you had come to Canton, GA to get yarn, and I think of you every time I drive by that location. Not sure what's there now -- it looks unoccupied or storage -- but I'll always call it Joanne's Store. We're about the same age, and I've been inspired by your tenacity and determination. Thank you for your blog, for the way you've kept us moving.
ReplyDeleteThank you for an inspiring blog, I have enjoyed your weaving, your attitude to life and wish you peace. Josie in the U.K.
ReplyDeleteI regularly read your blog, and as I’m reading this, I’m looking at one of your dish towels hanging on my stove. That was what first caught my eye on this blog - your weaving and your dish towels - although I’m neither a Weaver nor much of a cook or dishwasher. Sending warm thoughts Amy
ReplyDeleteWe've never met but like others I've been reading your blog for a long time. It is a bright spot on my daily rounds. So sorry to hear your news. Sending good vibes across the miles.
ReplyDeleteAlways a fighter Joanne, may you go gentle into a kinder world. A hug from me who only knew you through your blog. You were a courageous spirit. X
ReplyDeleteThankyou Beth fir letting us all know how things are.
ReplyDeleteJoanne has been an inspiration to me over the years. I only have two of her towels but they are treasured.
Please tell her that I'm firing my kiln for the first time in 14 years.
Thinking of her...of you all.
Sending (((hugs))))
Thank you Beth for keeping us apprised. I've been expecting the worst through her long silences this past year and she still hung on. She is an amazing woman, strong, tough, determined, constantly engaged with life. She has been a role model for me. I have been lucky enough to actually meet Joanne when she road tripped all the way down to Texas. I think of her often, she is often displayed hanging from the stove handle, a bit of her woven into every towel I have. Give her my love, tell her she will be remembered and missed.
ReplyDeleteBeth, thanks for keeping us posted. Please let Joanne know that I'm glad to have read her blog for all these years and always found her so inspiring. Hope she is peaceful and pain free now.
ReplyDeleteI read this last night and didn't have the words to comment then.
ReplyDeleteI still don't.
As everyone here has said, Joanne has been a role model, a rock, an example of how to live, to adapt, to rise to every occasion, to keep one's core beliefs strong throughout everything, and how to be a mother, a grandmother, a friend, how and when to fight and now, how and when to accept.
So many of us have Joanne's towels in our kitchens, perfect examples of how the most useful and pragmatic of objects can also be true and genuine works of art. Her weaving has been a fascinating thing to observe, an ancient art practiced in the here and now to our benefit.
Joanne- you're still here. You have that beautiful oak leaf hydrangea to look at outside your window. You have so much to be proud of. So many family members to visit with, to laugh with, to love, to be loved by.
I think in trying to find the right words, I've simply said too many.
Know you are loved.
Thanks, Beth.
Oh, Joanne, I am so sorry to hear this news. I know that you will face whatever comes with your own style of fortitude and conviction. I am glad that you are making your own decisions and that your family is standing by you. Wishing you safe travels on the next stage of your journey... xoxo, Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update, Beth. Please let your mom that Mr. Shife is so grateful for the blog friendship we developed and I will always cherish her humor and no-nonsense comments. She is one of the good ones and was deeply beloved by all that knew her. And I still have her amazing towels. Take care and lots of love from Idaho.
ReplyDeleteEchoing thoughts and feelings of other bloggers...and I just came to this circle, never having read Joanne's blogs before. But I know that your humanity is just the trick of this lifetime, and you will certainly continue in some new wonderful way, especially in the hearts of those who love you. After all, love is what this life is all about.
ReplyDeleteOh Joanne (and family) this just breaks my heart. You, Joanne, have been such a shining star in how to live this bittersweet life and you have my eternal gratitude. I was actually just thinking of you this morning as I was folding one of the towels that I got from you, and wishing I had purchased more when I had the chance. Rest easy, Joanne, and thank you.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, my dear—
ReplyDeleteSome threads of your life are inextricably woven into mine.
I thank you for that.
Bon voyage on your final journey, brave woman.
Love, Francesca (Fresca)
PS. Thanks for funding
Deleteporta-potties at rallies! 😄
🥰🥰🥰
PPS. Sending ❤️ to you too, Beth. Thanks for writing, and I’d love updates, as Joanne is able and willing.
DeleteJoanne, you are a rock star. Know you are loved and highly thought of always.
ReplyDeleteSending love.
Thank you, Beth, for writing and please guarantee us that Joanne is not in pain. Medical science can guarantee that for us all.
Today's a tough day. She's very sleepy, but I read everyone's words to her. I got more than a few smiles, but she's having trouble talking. She's so appreciative of all of the well wishes coming her way from all over the world, as am I. Thank you, and I will keep you all posted. -Beth
ReplyDeleteThis makes me happy. Is there anything we can do for her apart from online? Fresca's comment about portapotties got me thinking. Is there some cause that we could all donate to in her name to honor her? Some campaign near and dear to her heart?
DeleteHow about the Noragon Not Again Fund?
DeleteCount me in!
DeleteThank you for the update. Like others, the lack of posts led me to assume the worst. Joanne, over the years I learned so much from you. Every time I use one of your towels I think of you.
ReplyDeleteMy Joanne, You are here every day, your weaving is in the kitchen , the bath, and on the table to protect the wood from my sloppy bouquets. Wishing you great pain management and a soft landing. You are the best commenter on my blog EVER! Thoughtful and so intelligent and real. I adore you. And will. forever more! Blazing a trail for the rest of us I see...soon to follow I am sure. Love goes with you!Catch you later, feisty woman! You can be so proud of yourself for showing us how this life thing is done !! Thank you from all of my heart and soul and middle bits! LOVE. LS
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beth, for sharing news and continuing to support Joanne. And to Joanne, oh, I have LEARNED so much from you, and laughed equally as much. From time to time your plain speaking and sensibleness have pricked me off my behind, to rustle up thoughts of action, and TAKE IT! which is quite an achievement given my generally peaceable temperament, Thank you for your knowledge and your urging to action,
ReplyDeleteI carrying you tucked in my sleeve, always with me as you make your transition. May it be filled with peace, light, warmth, and comfort. Thank you, thank you.
I don't know your mother very well, or for very long, but she was kind to me and I appreciate that. I hope that she is not suffering and has time to say goodbye to everyone that she wants to say goodbye to.
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth for the update. As a retired hospice nurse, please work closely with the hospice team as they are usually very good with choices and options to stay as comfy as possible. Ask for them help with anything: a trip to the beach or a nearby lake, visiting a yarn shop, whatever she may want. Peace for your journey. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThank you Beth for the update. I was wondering what had happened to your mom. I always looked forward to her posts. She never minced words and always told it like it is. I think of her every time I use one of her beautiful towels. Please tell her she is missed.❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting all of Joanne’s virtual friends know about her condition. A lovely lady who I agreed with completely and have enjoyed getting to know over the years through her blog. My kitchen is filled with her beautiful towels which I will treasure always. Tell your mom I’m with her in spirit.
ReplyDeleteBeth, thank you for sharing this very unfortunate news with us. Please, tell your mother that I have so enjoyed her posts here in blogland. She has such a way with words; I felt as though I really knew her, her kitties, her weaving, her friends and family. Her gorgeous kitchen towels also grace my kitchen. I'm so grateful to have some of Joanne's beautiful work here with me. x
ReplyDeletePlease, tell Joanne that I am so glad to have known her here in this virtual space! Bea x
DeleteThank you Beth, and thank you for honoring your mother's wishes.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Joanne; I am sad I found your blog so late.
DeleteJoanne, I wish the best for you. It was so kind of you to let us know about your situation. I so enjoyed your posts all these years. Please be as comfortable as they can help you to be. I will continue to think of you often.
ReplyDeleteI was not a frequent visitor but always enjoyed Joanne's comments on other blogs. Adding my best wishes to all these others. I know she is making the decisions that are best for her. Sending hugs to you both.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your wonderful comments. They meant so much to her and her family in the last few days. Joanne passed away peacefully this morning, Saturday August 22, shortly before 6 am. The outpouring of love this week brought many smiles and a few tears. I'm not done with her story yet, and I will have something more to say about my incredible mom and role model soon. xoxo Beth
ReplyDeleteI think about you all the time and have missed your blog. Your towels are a beautiful reminder. I found you years ago probably because you were raising your grandchildren like I was. My eldest one graduated from Case Western two years ago and he and wife to be are living in Nashville where she is in Med school. He is and auditor and doing well. The youngest will be starting college next week in Mass. Rest easy you are loved and remembered forever.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to read this, but grateful that her passing was peaceful.
ReplyDeleteOh Beth, I am so so sorry for your loss. Thank you so much for what you did here. 🧡💛💚💙
ReplyDeleteBeth, I am so sorry.❤️ I am glad your mom knew how much she was loved by us all.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to here this. I often read her blog and loved her positive attitude.
ReplyDelete