She had to know I was going to write about her eventually. Since she is having a birthday this week, her time has come. I was looking through old pictures and I saw this one from 1954. We both were going to Barrick Elementary back then. Joyce was already attending Burbank Junior High, so it was me and my little sister. Well, Mom worked in the Lunchroom, so I could not get away with anything.
Back then, the school year consisted of Fall and Spring semesters. The Fall semester began the Tuesday after Labor Day, and the Spring semester began after New Year’s Day. To start the first grade, you had to be six years old before the start of the semester. Joyce and Jo Ann both were mid-termers who started school in January. So, our classes were low-x or high-x throughout the school years.
Jo Ann had a lot of “best” friends, so she always had other girls to play with during recess and before school. Some of those are still her friends today. Here is where I would begin to tell her secrets, but I do not know anything to talk about during those years. We had only one semester when we were both going to Burbank. After the new school of Fonville Junior High opened, Jo Ann was transferred to Fonville. There were times when I had to go there to pick her up after school. It seemed like a big deal then, but not now.
Jo Ann graduated from junior high and started at Sam Houston High in January 1961 when I became a high senior. My first date was when I was fifteen and took a date to the 9th Grade Prom, but Jo Ann started dating when she was thirteen. It was after that there were some, “Why don’t you let your sister go to the dance with you?” I hope I did not open myself up to some of my secrets being shared. I am kidding, but we were close, and we had the opportunity to go on family trips with Mom and Dad after Maurice and Joyce had gotten married.
Joyce started Sam Houston in 1955 when it first opened, that year it included her high-ninth class. She graduated in January 1959 with a class of 53 students. Ted graduated in the June 1959 class. Eva and I were in the June 1961 class. Joyce and Jo Ann were both in the Houstonettes so there were a lot of football games over the years and attended many Stardust Balls. Jo Ann graduated a semester early with the 1963 class. We had many friends that spanned those years at Sam Houston.
We were both in each other’s weddings only a few months apart and shared a lot of experiences over our early married years. Jo Ann was always there for Mom in her later years and her encourager for more than 20 years in many endeavors. She was a loving sister to Joyce and was there to support her in her later years. Jo Ann will always be my little sister to me, and we have so many memories together.
Happy Birthday Jo Ann – September 25
I love you,
Big Brother
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