Jess had the ability to settle in anywhere and make the most of her surroundings. She would have been happy in Kate’s small bedroom, but David decided he would move his office into that room and give Jess his larger study so she could have more space to spread out and enjoy her treasures.
The study had a large window at the south end of the room and two large windows on the west. The windows, overlooking our back yard and the covered patio, provided lots of light on sunny days. There was no built in closet in the study, but we found an old-fashioned wooden closet with two doors. Above the closet were two attached cabinets, perfect for Jess’s handmade quits and other bedding. Below the closet doors was a large wooden drawer, perfect for Jess’s picture albums, scarves and other treasures. Jess brought her own dresser and her own double bed. The kids all loved her bed, which provided them the opportunity to have sleepovers at home with Jess. She told great bedtime stories and loved to cuddle up with the little ones, just as much as they loved to cuddle with her.
Jess brought with her a treasured cabinet sewing machine, which today is lovingly enjoyed in the San Francisco home of our son Tom and his wife Alayne. Jess was a fabulous seamstress—just one of her many talents. As soon as she arrived, she took over the sewing tasks of the family and started teaching the kids how to sew. This talent proved very valuable to all of them over the years. One example was the year William bought himself a tuxedo, at the Salvation Army thrift store in Woodland, for a formal dance. He got a beautiful white jacket with black satin lapels and black slacks with a black satin strip running up the pants. He got the whole outfit for less than $10.00, including the shoes. William, like his great grandma Jess and his mom, loved shopping for bargains at thrift stores. He did have to tailor the pants to fit himself, which he did without hesitation, having learned from the best—Jesse Belle. She taught him how to use a sewing machine as well as sew by hand; having learned his lessons well, he did a great tailoring job. Both teacher Jess and his parents were very proud.
Jess also brought along her mangle iron, which she loved. She was a whiz on that iron, but she could also use a hand iron. She provided teaching lessons to the kids and some of their friends on the art of ironing. All the kids were great learners. I purchased each of them their own iron, and they took to it like a duck to water. They each went through high school when cotton had returned as the most popular clothing material, so it was a wonderful blessing to both them and me that they had perfected the art of ironing for themselves. I thanked Jess daily for those lessons!
Another of Jess’s talents was baking homemade bread. Everyday we were spoiled by delicious, hot homemade bread. I never had anything that tasted as good and hit the spot as well as that bread Jess shared with the family. The kids especially loved what she called her dough gods (i.e., pan-fried bread dough). If word got out that Great Grandma Gee Gee was mixing up a batch of dough gods, the kids and their friends flocked to the house for a little sample. Needless to say, the neighbors also loved her baking. When the smell of Jess’s warm baking bread drifted through the house, our daily cares always blew away.
Jess was the kind of grandma every kid would have wanted; David always counted himself fortunate to have spent many enjoyable hours with her as a child. She spent hours of time with each child. She would teach each of them skills, read stories to them, tell stories of her childhood, play games, or just sit and listen to how their day had gone. She made each of them feel special and very much loved.
She made everyone who came to the house feel right at home as well. I remember when one of our friends first came over to meet Jess. Jess was sitting in a rocking chair with her legs over the side of the chair. My friend said, “Why, she’s just like a teenager!” I also remember the day our neighbor across the street called to say her mother was visiting from Minnesota. Jess had met her on a previous trip and said to ask her over for coffee. When the visitor arrived, Jess greeted her wearing a velour green pants suit and jeweled slippers. The visitor was wearing a frumpy dull dress and conservative shoes. Jess sat her right down and said, “You need to start living! Get rid of that old lady dress and those shoes! Buy yourself a pair of pants and some fancy flats. I bought my first pair of pants forty years ago and love wearing them everyday! They are so much more comfortable than those old dresses.” At the time Jess was 92 and the neighbor’s mother was 85.
Jess was our own Auntie Mame and Mary Poppins rolled into one. She was a blessing in our lives and in the lives of everyone she met. In my estimation, she was an angel on earth and we treasured every day we got to spend with Jesse Belle.
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