Location: United States
Member Since:
June 21, 2016
Jean D. Johnson
Biography
I was born in Arlington, Virginia, and currently reside in Oak Hill, Virginia. As a child, I loved writing poetry that my mother would then make into little booklets, covered with wallpaper samples,, and send to my grandparents. My other artistic outlet was singing, which I did quite well when pulled out to sing for family and subsequently in high school select groups and musicals. My last performances were with The Alexandria Singers. Then I just got too busy with marriage, raising a family, and working. Now I substitute teach various elementary school subjects - and a lot of music! For relaxation, I go out to eat with girlfriends, explore my family history, and sometimes I practice my ukulele and play board games with a meet-up group.
I had let my writing languish for a while with the normal business of every day life when my mother fell sick at 92 years old and died of pneumonia. I hadn't lost someone so close to me since my dad died when I was in my twenties. That was different, because he was a sick abusive alcoholic, so losing him was almost a relief sometimes. I had to learn how to mourn what I'd wanted him to be. My mother was the one who had always kept our family going, so this was different. She lived a courageous life, broke free of the abuse, and went on to live a better life with new friends in Florida. I wrote about this in one of my books.
People often say that writing heals the soul, so I tried to write letters to Mom after she died, but I just couldn't do it. Instead, I turned to poetry - often writing a poem or two each day about Mom and grief in general. At the same time, as I got better, I began writing other poems on non-grief topics (anxiety, depression, children, etc.). At the end of the year, I turned those poems into self-published books that I made available through various outlets. I still can't read the poems I wrote about Mom without crying. Maybe someday...
I wrote two small books of children's poems, and I intend to write a picture book (or two or three) for children, so I can read it to the kids I substitute teach. Sometime I intend to write a book about my life as a child of abuse by a bipolar alcoholic and how I have benefited by psychological therapy and found happiness with a family of my own.
I have to wonderful young adult children and a husband who is responsible, reliable, loving, and fun. Can't beat that! Anyway, that's my story. I hope someone somewhere finds comfort in my books. They were written with love.
I had let my writing languish for a while with the normal business of every day life when my mother fell sick at 92 years old and died of pneumonia. I hadn't lost someone so close to me since my dad died when I was in my twenties. That was different, because he was a sick abusive alcoholic, so losing him was almost a relief sometimes. I had to learn how to mourn what I'd wanted him to be. My mother was the one who had always kept our family going, so this was different. She lived a courageous life, broke free of the abuse, and went on to live a better life with new friends in Florida. I wrote about this in one of my books.
People often say that writing heals the soul, so I tried to write letters to Mom after she died, but I just couldn't do it. Instead, I turned to poetry - often writing a poem or two each day about Mom and grief in general. At the same time, as I got better, I began writing other poems on non-grief topics (anxiety, depression, children, etc.). At the end of the year, I turned those poems into self-published books that I made available through various outlets. I still can't read the poems I wrote about Mom without crying. Maybe someday...
I wrote two small books of children's poems, and I intend to write a picture book (or two or three) for children, so I can read it to the kids I substitute teach. Sometime I intend to write a book about my life as a child of abuse by a bipolar alcoholic and how I have benefited by psychological therapy and found happiness with a family of my own.
I have to wonderful young adult children and a husband who is responsible, reliable, loving, and fun. Can't beat that! Anyway, that's my story. I hope someone somewhere finds comfort in my books. They were written with love.
Smashwords Interview
Where to find Jean D. Johnson online
Website: http://jtjjohnson.wixsite.com/website
Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://jtjjohnson.wixsite.com/website
Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://jtjjohnson.wixsite.com/website
Books
Lost But Not Forgotten: My Mother's Life
by Jean D. Johnson
Price:
$4.95 USD.
Words: 31,970.
Language:
English.
Published: June 25, 2016
.
Categories:
Nonfiction » Relationships & Family » Abuse / domestic partner abuse, Nonfiction » Relationships & Family » Abuse / domestic partner abuse
A few years before my mother died, she gave me a huge memory book she had made of her life. In my book, Gone But Not Forgotten: My Mother's Story," I include everything from that book, a chapter on the things I did the first year to try to come to terms with my mother's death, Mom's last letter to us, and two true stories she wrote for a creative writing class.
Poetry on the Loss of a Mother
by Jean D. Johnson
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 39,020.
Language:
English.
Published: June 24, 2016
.
Categories:
Poetry » Spiritual
This is a book of poems about my feelings about having lost my mom and about grief in general during the first year after my mother died.