24 - Jonathan and Mimi
Jonathan: Okay. And it’s February 18th, 2026. Uh, what is Wednesday and a little after 8 p.m. And glad to be talking with you, Mom.
Laura: Okay. Well, today I’m talking about you. Now, first of all, the name Jody was a name I absolutely loved from a book that I read, The Yearling. The boy in that book was just a gem, just a wonderful character. And so I wanted to name you Jodie. In fact, the book is called The Yearling, and I saw the movie three times.
But I made it formal and made it Jonathan. And you kind of thought that name Jodie for a while. But I’m glad you kept it.
Jody had a rough childhood.
I remember many trips to the pediatrician, two hospital stays for pneumonia, and many nights when I held him upright so he wouldn’t get all stuffed up and couldn’t sleep. So I rigged up an old plastic tablecloth that was somehow connected to the crib and made a little tent-like with a hot vaporizer going full tilt underneath there to keep you making it easier to breathe. Dr. Baker said that it was probably allergies. I think he might still be plagued with allergies. I don’t know that, are you?
Jonathan: Maybe a little bit, not too bad.
Laura: The week before I had an appointment to have the three boys picture taken, Jody somehow fell out of the stroller and ended up with dark front feet deep. That was just a forecast of things to come because when we had moved to the river, I left for the teachers convention with Dave’s sibling in charge of my kids. Jody went on a bike ride down Cherry Valley and flew right over the handlebars. And a kind lady helped him rake the gravel out of his face. But by the time I got home, he had two beautiful black eyes and massive scabs. I rushed him to Kmart to have his picture taken like that in a 50 cent photo booth that they used to have in those days. That was a sight to remember.
Jody made a magnificent Dorothy one time on Oakdale’s book character dress-up day. That’s a real indication of how mild mannered Jody was. He didn’t even set up a stink about being elected to be Dorothy, and that same mild manner landed him in the hallway of Dr. Buckery’s office with a ripped paper x-ray gown on. And Scott and Bob laughing in a locked examination room. To this day, I’m afraid Dr. Buckery’s records say that his name is Flipper because his brothers told the doctor that was his name. But Jody’s name also got into trouble another time. And that was when he went to Interlochen and the word Jody made him booked into a girl’s cabin. I’ll never forget the night he came home puffing into the kitchen and said, Mom, I’m in big trouble. He had walked all the way home from Dutton’s harvest sale. He had come prepared for the annual water fight with a fire extinguisher that Heidi had supplied him with. He was chased by some men. and had sneaked the extinguisher into the garage of his friend Bauman’s father and then run home across open fields. He was ashen. The next morning he discovered that Dutton had two extinguishers stolen and so he was a prime suspect. It took a couple of painful talks with the principal and athletic director to straighten out his story.
Jody is my son of many hobbies. Any one of them could lead him to a career, but I remember him talking about third world countries. I guess that’s why he was gung-ho to go to Sierra Leone.
You know, his trip to Sierra Leone made my trip much more meaningful. First of all, He had a ham radio license and convinced me to get one too, although I don’t know how I ever passed that exam. But he set up an antenna and we got a, I think it was a bolt, not the motor, the- The marine battery, yeah. Battery, that’s right. We came with a radio, but we didn’t have the power to do it. He rigged it all up. And one time he ended up talking with somebody in South America who was a Calvin grad. And we did talk to Grand Rapids on a couple of occasions.
The thing I remember the most about Jody and Sierra Leone was he befriended a Sierra Leone man who lived in a little shack all alone and was so bodily impaired, he could hardly stand on his two legs. And he didn’t have a job, he didn’t have a garden, he couldn’t do much of anything. You didn’t see him out very much, but Jody went there often to visit him and became his friend. And that man valued Jodi so much. What happened was, because Jodi knew about ham radios, there was a mission in another place in Sierra Leone with missionaries who wanted his help to set them up. So he left a week before we did and went down there first. So the day that he left, He was about to get into the van and someone had run to talk to his friend and I don’t, what was the friend’s name, Jody?
Jonathan: Well, you’re thinking about Mushu who was actually a blacksmith. That was the skill he had.
Laura: Well, he loved you so much that when you were ready to leave, somebody went to tell him, Jody’s going, want to come and say goodbye? and he was crying and he said, I can’t go. I can’t say goodbye to him. And so there were a lot of people standing by that little truck that came to get you, but he wouldn’t come.
Anyway,
Like I said, your baby years were hard.
When we moved to the river, I left for a teacher’s convention with Dave’s sibling in charge and that’s when he fell over the handlebars and he had a couple other little calamities in those years too.
But he did make a magnificent Dorothy in Oakdale’s book character dress updates. That’s a real indication of how mild mannered Jodie was. He didn’t even set up a stink when we all selected him to be Dorothy. But that same mild manner landed him in the hallway of Dr. Buckery’s office. I know. I’ll never forget the night he came puffing in the kitchen. and said he was in trouble. He’s my son of many hobbies, and I think he still has some of those. I think that Jodi going to Sierra Leone was an indication to me of even that was his senior year in high school, a year when seniors got many privileges and there were many special occasions. And he knew he was going to miss the whole first semester, but he had always been thinking about third world countries and he was gung-ho to go. Mimi was a little less excited about it. But Jody made the trip much easier for me, and I was so glad to have him along.
Now Jody has had his own business, is a master on the computer, has done some hours and hours of collecting photographs to preserve a history of his family that he treasures, and the hours that Jody has spent just being my son are obviously a treasure to me.
Mimi came at a really painful time in my life.
I prefer not to recall the days leading up to her birth But I chose her name wisely. Miriam Joy has been exactly that.
She had gorgeous dark curls from the beginning. She was everybody’s pal, but especially Heidi’s. And that’s why she replied on a tape recording to my question, do you love Heidi by saying, Heidi, nice and warm. She certainly had her share of caretakers. First, there were all her brothers and sisters. And then because I was struggling to get through school, she had babysitters. Teenagers at night and neighbor ladies, Grandma Oldhoff, Aunt Shirley, and Auntie Jan. That’s a gal that lived right across the street from Oakdale. And so when I thought she would go there in the day, and even in kindergarten when it was half days, she stayed there.
She loved all her caregivers and they loved her. She loved animals and she rolled and romped with our Australian shepherds and cried when she came upon the rabbit that Ted shot and left on the front step.
An independent thinker was already formed by then. She could not resist the softness of little balls on the fringes of bedspreads and curtains. And even though she doesn’t smell the balls today, she still holds her hands to her nose and mouth without thinking and tongues her teeth like she did when she was little.
Mimi always has been a writer. I have scores of notes from her, attempts to communicate when she was either sad or happy. I remember a period in her life when she was very anxious about being separated from me. Now the rules are reversed. I’m anxious about being separated from her. I think of all my children. Mimi shows the most physical affection. She knows I love to be hugged.
Mimi’s fiercely independent. One must work out her own philosophies, whether social or political, she’ll never be like everyone else. Just catch a glimpse of her someday in her Amish hat, her men’s trousers, her tuxedo jacket, and a black man’s shoes, and her gorgeous hair flying. I think that is why she’s perceived as a leader wherever she goes. You just can’t miss that firm sense of purpose, even if her speaking voice is soft.
I hate it when she was in first grade next door to me at Oakdale. She loved books back then and still does. They let me teach Jody, why not Mimi?
But over the years I discovered that she learns pretty well without me and I don’t ever recall demonstrating how to run my sewing machine, but she figured it out. And she meant some of her own stuff.
I still pronounce the few words I learned in Karanko wrong, but she showed me up in communicating in Africa too. Her oral language developed very early and continues to serve her well. Whether she’s talking with a group or Amnesty International or giving a graduation speech as the president of her class, she has made me very proud.
I can already think of stories I’ve forgotten. I’m not going to try to add new ones on. But I do want to say something generally about my children.
It seems significant that all my children at some time or other chose friends who were projects dealing with underdogs.
Is it perhaps because we as a family, broken and often broke, felt that we were underdogs? Or is it because the Bartlesons really do feel the hurt of other people? I hope it’s that.
My children are my treasures, no one less and no one more.
They have some similarities but a surprising assortment of dissimilar personalities. The only thing that matters when all is said and done is this, that my children care about each other, care about the world, and care about their savior. I know that A divorce was hurtful to me, but it was surely hurtful to them too. I remember getting a note under my pillow from Bobby saying, mom, when is daddy coming home?
I think that those hard days and my finishing my college degree, that my children were very understanding.
I’m sure that I felt their support and not criticism for my busyness which meant I didn’t have as much time for them between studying for college courses and then preparing classes while I was teaching. I was very busy in my own world and I think that my children paid for that. And yet they supported me. I have always felt their love. and encouragement. And so in the hardest times of my life, my children have been my source of strength. Now I’m almost 88 and my strength is zero. I use a walker. I have physical medical issues. My children are there for me, every one of them.
They keep me in my house. They keep me full of laughter, run my errands, get my groceries, help me clean.
Jody has even from a distance, look.
This was his idea. I’m on call anytime. I have trouble. So you can tell that even in my old age, I have their support and their love. And I thank God for that.
Amen.
Jonathan: Mom, that’s a very fitting and lovely conclusion to the video interviews we’ve been doing. I want to thank you for all your love and your and your care and your taking time to share personal things and your memories of your life. It’s been a wonderful experience with you.
Laura: But you know, some of these stories I would have never remembered if I hadn’t written them down. How you got hurt going over the handlebars and even Dorothy. I don’t know if I’ve got pictures of that, but every single little story about funny things or curious things about them I’m glad I wrote them down because now, looking back, I couldn’t be as particular, you know?
Jonathan: Sure.
Laura: Well, I don’t know if you have other ideas for interviews going forward now, but there’s not much else I can tell. In my old age, I told you eight is my magic number. When I needed a new post office box, I got a 6-2. OK. I’m going to turn 88 my next birthday. And you know, I counted all the places that I taught and there were eight of them.
Jonathan: OK, that’s quite a coincidence.
Laura: Yeah, I know it is.
Well. Thank you for doing this, Jodi. And I think Bob and Jen had their hands full right now. Say some prayers for them.
They’re always worrying about their girls.