Janet Shirley Howell - by Scott Shirley

After two baby boys in a row, Mom was looking forward to the possibility of having a daughter. She had picked out the name Ann. When I (Scott) was born, Mom still had hopes for a girl. When Verna Shirley used the name of Ann for their daughter, Mom went with the name of Janet, which I think fits her much better.

Brothers and sisters are the people you will know longer than anyone else during your life, even your parents. Janet was my first friend. In our family there were the "older kids," and the "younger kids." Neal and Dale were one year apart, then three years went by before Janet and I were born two years apart. Janet had to grow up tough, being surrounded by so many boys. When we went on a trip, Janet got to sit in the front between Mom and Dad, while I had to sit between Neal and Dale in the back, making sure not to touch them when we went around corners.

Janet and I spent a lot of time riding our bikes down to Virgin's to play with our cousins. We often swam in the canal and rode on the rafts that Stretch built. We would swim in the cold water and ride tubes down the canal, then lay out on the hot pavement to get warm in the sun, moving for an occassional car to pass. We also rode the horse up and down the canal. The horse was not afraid of water, so we would throw a bridal on and ride up to the canal check and go right on in. Janet would hang onto me as I held the reigns and a handfull of mane as the horse would jump out into the water as it came over the check. We had to make sure we were situated when the horse came up out of the water or we would get washed away.

Janet was involved in Dance at Debbie Owen's dance studio. Mom loved having a daughter. I honestly do not think any of us were loved more than any onyone else. There is an old saying that says, "A son is a son 'til he has him a wife, a Daughter's a daughter the rest of her life." I think that is true. Mom loved doing "girl things" with Janet.

Jan was a "sun worshiper." She and I both had the "Shirley skin" that turned dark brown and seldom burned. I think we got that from Dad. Jan would climb up on the garage roof and sun bathe. Her light blond hair and dark tan gave her the "California girl" look.

Jan has always been an animal lover. Living on a corner in the country meant that city folks would come out and dump off dogs and cats they did not want. Dad would do his best to chase them off, but Janet would sneak out and feed them. Guess who won. I remember dogs by the name of Nuggs, Puppy, Rusty, and cats named Sass and Madam Gnu, who was a Siamese cat that couldn't decide between our house and Irvin Ball's. We had two Amazon parrots Neal and Dale sent home from Brazil, and we had two bear cubs Dad raised behind the house. We also had a Bassett hound named John Boy. He was legitimate, with real papers. We had a parakeet named Clyde, who would stick his head in our mouths and clean our teeth. Jan and I even took a shot at raising a baby owl, named Vandermier.

Janet and I once went "hunting" with Neal's B-B gun at the "swamp" which was just east of our house. I shot a rather colorful songbird. It fell in the water and was wounded. Jan and I felt terrible, so we waded out in the water, rescued the bird, took it home, nursed it back to health and let it go. We didn't do much hunting after that.

To say Jan was a cat-lover would be putting it mildly. Bud is the cat pictured in the plants and on Jan's back. Another was Zane. Staying at Jan and Ard's house was always an adventure wondering what the cats would do next.

"Uncle Ard" was a great addition to our family. I first met him shortly before the Teton Dam disaster. He and Jan have been like an extra set of parents for all of Ross and Marge's grandkids. Jan has come to all the family baby blessings she could and recorded the words in shorthand for us to keep. She remains close to all the grandkids and has done more "mothering" than she will ever know.

She was my first friend, and remains so today. Her loyalty has always been noted by our family. If someone had Jan for a friend, she would stand by them not matter what. How lucky we were to have Janet in our family.