2022 Windy's Family Newsletter

Windy-47 I have had many adventures this year. I feel human again as my health is finally approaching my “New Normal.” It is such a relief to be able to drive, see a computer screen, and walk up the stairs without hoisting myself with both arms.  I can do basic household chores, yard work, real work, and play too.  Business is still doing well as I put what little energy I had into the 2 most important things: raising my family and working in the shop.  I’m so glad that I made the time this summer to visit my mom in her rental house in Port Townsend, WA (a 15 hr drive). We had a perfect visit and made fond memories. In October we traveled again to PT and said a final goodbye (see back)  My sister and I were blessed to be at her side for a perfect passing, just as she planned.  We were at her house for 49 hours between arrival and the house ready to re-rent. GO, TEAM.  On a fun note, I adopted two mini golden doodles., Westley and Charlie. They have brought lots of love and learning to my home.

L-17 This year has been chaotic.  It’s my senior year so I’ve been applying to colleges and for scholarships.  I also decided to take all the core concurrent enrollment classes I could so I have a lot of homework. Last spring break my mom, Cordelia, and I went to New York City and among other things saw “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Hades Town” on Broadway.  After NYC we went to Baltimore from my mom’s business convention where “aunt” Rebecca joined us and took me on day trips to see her favorite memories of living there and listened to audiobooks. When we visited GranDee in July we had a lovely time with her and my PT friends took me to a K-Pop concert in Seattle. I’ve been able to hang out with my friends a little bit this year and that has really helped my mental health. I enjoyed cosplaying with my family and friends at FanX.  Overall I think I’ve had a pretty okay but overwhelming year.

Cordelia-15 This year has been loads of fun. I can now drive and love it so much. My friends are cool, both old and new, and I love them.  I started high school and got my first job. I love theater, as always, and am in most of the school and class plays.  I have been privileged to travel the US quite a bit.  I hope to travel outside the US soon.  This year has been a blast!

Sky-12 It is so crazy how incredibly fast time has gone by,  It still feels like 2019! It’s insane that it’s 2022 and I’m almost 13!!! My summer was crazy when traveling to summer music came in Michigan the train was late and we had to sleep overnight in the Chicago Union Station.  We, “L”, Cordelia and I, ended up having a lovely time with mom’s friend Dawn, and her daughter, Willow, petting bunnies and seeing the sights in Chicago before the next train left 24 hours later.  After we finally arrived at our cousin Tom’s house the camp was canceled less than 24 hours before it started due to an outbreak of COVID.  So we flew home early. I did enjoy the two camps I did attend I love the memories I have of GranDee, I hope she is not forgotten, I miss her.  The new puppies are so cute!

Gwendolyn-9 I am now in fourth grade and love gymnastics, math, friends, family, and new puppies as well as our two pet rats, and two cats. I finally have my own phone number!

 

Charle is brown and more poodle than his brother, and Westley is black and more retriever. They have brought us so much love and joy!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

DD Jay (aka Diane Lea Draper, DD Johnson, DeeDee Draper Jay) lived with a joyful attitude, laughing as she stumbled onto the next new adventure in her 77 years (a number that is both a palindrome and multiple of two primes). She passed peacefully, painlessly, and punctiliously in her own home in Port Townsend, Washington on October 3rd, 2022 with her two daughters holding her hands.

Born to Ellen (Robertson) and Woodrow “Scrub” Draper on January 24th, 1945, she has brought laughter and depth to a number of lives everywhere she has lived. In Boulder, Colorado as a 5th grader, she worked in her father's restaurant (College Catering, which notably served the first pizza in Boulder) answering the phone, filling orders, and making brownies while also tending to her two younger siblings. She was always an amazing friend and remained in contact with many of her friends from Junior High, High School, CU Buffs, and beyond. In 1976 she moved to Flagstaff, Arizona where she was a middle school math teacher by day and theater extraordinaire by night. She co-founded Magic Curtain Productions (the local children’s theater). She was often found making paper mache into amazingly convincing food props or knitting on stage as an extra in Theatrikos plays. Her true love was improv and Fox Paws (Faux Pas) was the name she picked for her troupe that always had a good laugh and created dinner theaters from scratch in both Northern and Southern Arizona (Green Valley).

She lived an amazing and helpful life and is well-loved by all that knew her including her children and grandchildren who are grateful for all the care she gave them. She loved to cook and cater and fed many a group of family, friends, theater groups, UUs, and film crews, often with homemade pizza.

Her community advocacy was put to good use as she was highly involved in working with Habitat for Humanity, politics, and peaceful conflict resolution as well as making sure that everyone's voice was heard through protests and rallies. After retirement, she moved to Green Valley, Arizona in 2006. She was adamant that all humans have the right to live safely without prejudice and hate. She has donated her body to science as she continues to give even in her death.

She is survived by the two children she raised, Emily Johnson James (Rod), and their two children Tyler and Kelsey. Windy (Johnson, Shaffer) Jay and her four children, Elnorra “L”, Cordelia, Adelaide “Sky” and Gwendolyn, and the beloved child she adopted away in 1965, Dan Cortes (Karen) and his four children Veronica “Roni”, Nate, Zane, and Zoe as well as the father of her children and good friend, her ex-husband Ken Johnson (Lorie), her brother Dennis Draper and sisters Alfred McElwain (Marty) and Dixie Llewellin (Dave).

It was her desire that in lieu of a formal memorial you each take a few minutes to remember her fondly with a Pepperidge Farms Milano cookie and a cup of tea at your convenience. If you would like to contribute to a memory book please send a message with your memory to her daughters. Contributions can be made in her name to the charity you had in common with her; Habitat for Humanity or by donating books to help children’s literacy.

 

 

 

Pi Day 03/14/2022

 

2021 Shaffer/Jay Family Newsletter Saint Patrick's Day 2022

The Cat's Pajamas

Christmas 2021

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! We waited until the spring to send out our newsletter this year because we've had a lot of fun things going on. We’ve had a lot of highs and lows, otherwise known as roses and thorns. We are all alive and the girls are thriving, The most exciting news is that we found my long-lost, I mean my parents adopted away, full-blooded brother Dan Cortes, who is nearly a decade my senior. We were very excited to meet him, his wife, and his four amazing kids. The year was riddled with health challenges for DeeDee and me but we have been glad to have our "mutual care society". The girls have been having lots of fun with super camps, road trips, and the older 2 going on our ‘domestic exchange program’ (family out of state). Another highlight was on February 20th, 2022 when the three siblings surprised Ken for his 80th birthday and came to his house from North Carolina (Emily), Northern Utah (Windy), and Southern Arizona (Dan),

DD & Dan

San (1965) & Windy (1975)

Ken, DD, Dan, Emily, Windy

10 grandkids, in age order Veronica C and Tyler J not pictured,
Kelsey J, Zane C, Nate C, Zoe C, Elnorra S, Cordelia S, Adelaide "Sky" S, Gwendolyn S

Twinssies, Zoe and Elonrra are only 9 days apart

DD-After spending almost four years in Spanish Fork. I decided to move to Port Townsend, Washington to be near my sister Dixie and her husband Dave. They have been encouraging me to move there for years. I am enjoying the liberal atmosphere and the friendly people. The lower altitude means I do not need oxygen 24/7 which is a huge plus! I miss my grandgirls and Windy profoundly though. My phone number remains the same and I still check on Facebook nearly every day. My new address is 1515 Clay Street Port Townsend Washington 98368.

DD in Port Townsend on Pi day, March 14, 2022

Windy-I will say it has not been an easy year. Medical complications abound, but I am still alive and kicking and fighting each day to have a future. I have been dealing with graft versus host disease, which is taking out my eyesight and causing a lack of energy due to extensive amounts of steroids. When I'm up and about I do my best to live life to it's fullest. We were able to travel to meet my brother for Easter, and again to take a road trip to Michigan and back. My 2 oldest children got to go to an arts camp. We visited lots of friends and family. My business is doing well and I have lots of work to do. I am quite proud of myself for successfully adulting in December when I researched, financed, and bought a 2015 Honda Odyssey before the old one completely kaputzed. My 2006 Honda has done right by us and at 275k mi is now the teenagers' car. Do you see that plural? My 2nd child gets her permit in April. We also had a lovely Christmas with visitors. But the day after my birthday this year I was hospitalized with pneumonia. I am now back to basic function after that ordeal. I was supposed to go with Emily and DeeDee for the move to Port Townsend but instead, I was dropped off at the ER as they drove away. 

March 2022

Elnorra, 17- This year has been really crazy. I did a lot of driving this year and got my license. We got to meet Uncle Dan and cousins in April when we went down for a visit during spring break. This summer I got to go on a river trip for the first time, and I got on a big family road trip, along with being able to attend an amazing fine arts camp where I majored in cello. This year amidst all the madness I also got the opportunity to go to Port Townsend Washington and stay with Dixie and Dave my Great Aunt and Uncle for a semester. While I was there I got to do a lot of exploring and went on a lot of walks. I loved going to school there and made a lot of friends. I got back to Utah in early February and had to get back into the routine of being the oldest sibling. Its been a lot of work but it’s nice to be back.

Fall 2021

Cordelia, 14-Wow 2021 was crazy. Let's start at the beginning…I got to go back to school for the 4th term from 1 whole school year of online learning. We met my uncle and “new” cousins on Easter. This summer was awesome. I had the opportunity to go to a fine arts camp for drama and choir and had an awesome road trip back seeing sites from my mom's younger life such as her tech school campus. Only about 2 weeks after getting back from that adventure I set right off for an even bigger one! I had the privilege to go and stay with my aunt Emily and uncle Rod in North Carolina for a time. It was awesome! I learned so much and tried great food lol. It was a great experience but sadly my time was cut short because I wasn't able to get into school so I was doing online school AGAIN. But it was lots of fun while it lasted. I'm back now, am in school, have great friends, and am overall at a good place in my life.

Cordelia, March 2022, 8th Grade

Adelaide “Sky”, 12-This year has been a crazy roller coaster for me. The summer was great. I got to go on a long road trip. My friends and I have had fun. I am now in middle school and I get to play in band. Halloween was fun. I got to go trick or treating with my friends and I got a lot of candy. I got to see my long-lost uncle and cousins.

Adelaide "Sky" Fall 2021, 6th grade

Gwendolyn, 9- Last year I was baptized, I met my uncle Dan, went on a long road trip, and adopted my new cat, “Pip”. I am a budding reader and love to play jump on the trampoline and play with friends. I also am super excited to be in a gymnastics class!

Gwendolyn's Baptism, January 2021

"May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again."              

Love and hugs,

Windy et.al

Windy Shaffer

341 E 100 North

Spanish Fork, UT 84660

TubaMamma@Gmail.com

928-774-8442

  

Elnorra Shaffer

ElnorraShaffer@Gmail.com

801-850-1278

 

Cordelia Shaffer

CordeliaShaffer@Gmail.com

385-625-7882

 

Adelaide Shaffer

AdeLadyShaffer@Gmail.com

385-277-2323

 

      Gwendolyn Shaffer

GwendyShaffer@Gmail.com

DeeDee Jay

1515 Clay Street

Port Townsend Washington 98368.

D4D4J10@Gmail.com

520-301-5510