by Kate Johnston, Editor
Condoms. Condoms as balloons. The SWC thong bikini. Sex. And more sex. NF2. These are some of the things I think of when I think of Joanie.
Once you met Joanie, whether it was face-to-face or online, you never forgot her. Joanie had a way of sticking to you. She had strong opinions on everything, and I do mean everything. When she got an idea to do something or an opinion about something or someone, she never let go of it. Laughter was an important part of life, in Joanie's opinion, and she would do anything to get people to laugh.
Joanie loved to tease. When I was the Chair of the SayWhatClub Hospitality Committee, and she was on the HC, she named me EMU. She delighted in addressing me as EMU in chatrooms, so people not in the know would ask what EMU meant.
"Evil Mistress of the Universe!"
The memory still brings a smile to me.
She had a serious side too. One night in an SWC chatroom where the talk turned to hearing aids stands out for me. I said I hated my hearing aids, and I'd had thoughts of throwing them away. Joanie told us she'd taken her hearing aids out for a year when she couldn't understand voices anymore. All she'd been able to hear were environmental sounds, and she decided she'd rather be deaf.
Listen to me, Kate, Joanie said, Listen to me good. I couldn't hear anything for a year. I would give anything to get that year back and hear all I could, she said.
I still don't like my hearing aids. I'm still wearing them.
Joanie was caring, bawdy, fun-loving, irreverent, loving, thoughtful, a jokester, and always had the gumption to speak her mind. In short, Joanie was Joanie.
Some people mourn by going off by themselves to reflect. Some cry. Some berate the world. My own grief for Joanie led me to put together this memorial to Joan Emerick. I wish everyone could have known Joanie.
Through the stories related here, you can catch a glimpse of what Joan was like. Some of the stories may "ruffle your feathers", so to speak. Some stories may bring you to tears. But -- like diamonds in a mine -- I hope you find laughter here and there in the stories. Joanie would have wanted it that way.
[Thanks to Diane Emerick for Joanie's life story, some pictures, and the eulogy. This website is decorated with yellow roses: Joanie's favorite flower.
Thanks also to Cathy Hilden, Ann Stalnaker, and Arthur Veen for technical assistance and proofreading.]
[to read one of the following selections, click on the link]
NOTE: Joan had an acoustic neuroma, specifically Neurofibromatosis2 or NF2, for short. She died after suffering a stroke following surgery to remove two tumors from her brainstem. She was getting an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) at the same time. To read more about acoustic neuromas, NF2, and ABIs, please click on the following links: