Doris June was my second mom since my mom passed away in January of 1993. We shared many a good time together over the last 40+ years. I have a lot of great memories of laughter shared. I never met a person that was so enamored of palm trees! If you ever visited her, you would see pictures, plates, napkins, all manner of things with palm trees on them. Whenever I went on business trips to SoCal or Florida, I'd always send her a picture of one and she'd start talking fondly about all the palm trees that grew around Oceanside where she lived for a while. In more recent years when her memory was getting a little sketchy, she'd always laugh and say, 'Well, I survived raising four boys which was exhausting so it makes a great excuse for why I can't remember everything now.'
Rick and I asked her to watch our kids for us once when Denae was about 7 and Grady was 4. We dropped them off at her place in Tacoma and went out for the evening. She met us at the door when we got back looking pretty frazzled and told us she didn't think she was young enough to ever do that again :) I think the biggest problem was that she invited their cousin Brandon over to join them (buddies with Grady) and she fed them lots of goodies all night like every good grandma would. If I'm honest, I have to admit that Grady always had the energy of at least 4 kids so she really had her hands full that night.
Her favorite memory of our son Grady was when he was 6 and he climbed out an upstairs window at our house in Lake Stevens and was dancing on the roof over the front porch; so proud of himself while we all had a heart attack. She also frequently reminisced about a trip she took to OK with our daughter Denae when she was 14. They were changing planes in an airport somewhere and were on a moving sidewalk..........talking away and not watching the end of the sidewalk fast approaching. Doris stumbled there at the end and started falling forward but Denae quickly grabbed hold of her clothes in the middle of her back and hauled her upright again. I think the experience scared her a little but they went on to have a great trip visiting the OK relatives and she laughed about it for the next 20 years. Of course, I'm not sure if she ever went on another moving sidewalk or not :)
She was a sweet lady with a big heart and a great smile who was a blessing to many and will be missed as a mother, grandmother and friend even though we can be nothing but happy for her now.
Kari Harmon
