Reitha Jo Jones 1925-1993

 A Great Blessing To Me

My Aunt Jo

Being raised around someone who wasn't deemed as "normal" became the "normal" for me. I never saw my aunt Jo through a different lens than just who she was. I was never afraid to be around her and it all seemed very normal to me. Therefore, throughout my life, I was able to view ALL people with deformities as normal. It was the greatest blessing that could have been given to me as a child. Thank you, Aunt Jo, for being a special gift to our family. 

Reitha Jo Jones was born on 24 Jan 1925 to Joe Carroll Jones and Ava Ella "McNair" Jones. She was the first child born to them, and it was a struggle to bring her into this world since Jo was stuck in the birth canal. After an extended labor, forceps were finally used. Jo was born with physical deformities. Everyone left, including the doctor, thinking that there was no way that Jo would survive. Directly after birth, Ava’s mother, Ella (Ella Vermell "King" McNair), took Jo and worked with her, clearing her passageways of mucus, etc. Ella breathed life back into Jo, and she lived to be 63 years old. 

A son, Martin Frank Jones, was born in 1926. When my mother, Carolita, was born in 1928, Ella and Charles McNair took Jo into their home in order to help Ava, because she would have had 3 infants in diapers.  They taught Jo to walk and potty trained her, and when life returned to normal for Ava and Joe, Jo returned home. 

This was during an era when people kept those with disabilities from the public eye.  Jo did attend school with her brothers and sisters until it became too obvious and difficult.  She was teased by the other children.  They eventually took Jo to the Masonic Hospital in Dallas, Texas, and were told that nothing could be done for her.  They were given the option of leaving her there to be taught life skills, but Ava did not have the heart to leave her.  They brought her home and Jo lived with them until the end of her life.  

Picture on the left is just before their trip to Dallas.

My mother, Carolita, watched over Jo throughout their early years in school. Carolita was a tomboy and wasn't afraid to take anyone on who was making fun of Jo. Mother remembers in the early days of going with her mother to Vernon to shop and Jo was always in tow. Mother remembers returning to the car and having onlookers peering into the car with Jo hunkered down in the floorboard trying to avoid their nasty gazes. It would make Mother hopping mad. And when this sort of thing happened at school, Mother was not afraid to fight for Jo.  Jo would sit beside Mother in class so that Mother could help Jo navigate the classroom, learning to read and write. They did this until it became too complicated. Jo began to stay at home and learn the life skills from Mimi. 

Ava, my grandmother, was the angel who cared for Jo for her entire life on earth. Ava taught her many life skills, such as house cleaning, helping in the kitchen, ironing, and Jo did beautiful embroidery, making kitchen tea towels for everyone and for every occasion. The tea towels that I mostly remember were the sets including a towel for each day of the week with each day having a design depicting the chore for that day, i.e. cooking, laundry, ironing, etc. I, to this day, carry on the tradition of making these tea towels.