"Did you ever meet a child who loved to clean the bathroom? Well, Jessie did —
window sills, the tub, the floor and everything," Grandma Ruth said. "But, that
was Jessie. She kept her room perfect, her drawers neat, with everything
‘professionally' folded, everything in her closet lined up perfectly."
That was Jessie. Everything just so.
She was Grandma's girl from the time she was 1, when Jessie's mom and dad split
up. She and Grandma Ruth loved to go shopping together, to J. C. Penney at the
mall and Wal-Mart in Homosassa. Everybody in those stores knew Jessie, Ruth
said, even the ladies back in the catalog department at JCPenney.
Oh, did that girl love clothes! Especially "skorts" and capri pants. When her
church had a fashion show last year, Jessie modeled white and lime
green-patterned capri pants and matching green top and a black, shiny raincoat.
She loved that raincoat so much that she wanted to wear it all the time, no
matter how hot it was outside.
Jessie wanted to be an Olympic swimmer — and a fashion designer. She would cut
up old dress-up clothes and make clothes for her dolls. She and Grandma
collected dolls together, from Barbies and Bratz dolls to porcelain
collectibles.
"She couldn't sew," Ruth said, "but my friend Helen would give Jessie all her
(fabric) scraps and she would make clothes, sarongs and things that tied."
Jessie was all girl. She loved purple and pink. She watched the Disney Channel
all the time and had a collection of Disney videos. She especially loved "The
Princess Diaries."
Jessie and her friend, Tiffany, liked to do cheerleading and gymnastics
together.
"She liked doing cartwheels — I taught her to do that," Tiffany said. "We used
to play on my tire swing, but it made us dizzy so we stopped."
The two were going to have a band, but they didn't have any instruments, only a
microphone. So, they decided just to sing and dance. They liked doing karaoke
together at Jessie's house.
They liked to ride bikes. Even though Jessie had several two-wheeled bikes, the
one she liked riding best was an old three-wheeler with no brakes that Grandpa
Archie had given her.
She loved jewelry and shoes and putting clothes on her dog "Corky." She loved
makeup.
"I gave her an old box of cosmetics that she would play with," Ruth said. "Well,
one Sunday we were getting ready to go to church and she came out with all this
makeup on! I said, ‘Jessie, that's too much for church.'"
She went right in and washed it off. That was Jessie. Never an argument or a
tantrum. Just "Yes, Ma'am" or "No, Ma'am."
Church was a big part of Jessie's short life and she was a big part of Faith
Baptist Church in Homosassa, where she attended the King's Kids Wednesday night
program. Out of 35 kids, Jessie was one of six who recently memorized the names
of all the books of the New Testament and the memory verse,"I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).
"She (recited) it the night before she disappeared," said Kim Bidlack, her
King's Kids leader and friend. "She was always smiling. There's an emptiness now
when you go to church."
Jessie was born in Gastonia, N.C. She came to Homosassa a year ago.
She attended Homosassa Elementary School and was in Diane Hart's third-grade
class. Every morning Grandpa Archie would drive her to the bus stop and every
afternoon Grandma Ruth would pick her up.
She liked music, Celine Dion and Lil' Romeo. She loved to sing.
She always said, "I love you." She always wanted to go to the store with Grandpa
because she knew he would buy her candy. She always, always, always gave her
daddy a hug every morning.
She was "Daddy's girl" and would call him as soon as she got home from school.
She liked playing on the sand piles at his work site. She had just gone to the
state fair with him shortly before she disappeared. That's where her daddy
bought her the now-famous pink hat she's shown wearing in her picture.
Jessie was kind and tenderhearted and easy to please — but don't you dare put
"green stuff" (parsley) on her pasta! Plain with butter only. "Everyone at
Luigi's knew that," Ruth said, "and they'd start fixing it for her as soon as
she'd come in through the door."
She loved "rainbow noodles," too — that's what she called elbow macaroni.
Besides green stuff on her pasta, Jessie didn't like seeing or hearing about
anybody being mistreated; she didn't like to see anyone cry.
"She was a great comforter," Ruth said. "She would take you in her arms — she'd
done that many times with me; last year I had four major surgeries and she
helped take care of me."
Her mother, Angie Bryant, said she will forever remember the day she was born
and seeing her "sweet, innocent face." Her father, Mark Lunsford, will always
remember his last hug.
Her pastor, the Rev. Laverle Coats, will remember how she loved people, loved
her family, loved "her Lord and wanted others to love him, too."
"She was a fun kid," Ruth Lunsford said. "It was good times when Jessie was
around."
This article was done by The Citrus Co Chronicle Online
March 26 of 2005 |
