Dear friends and others,
I lost my beautiful Joy on Tuesday following a cardiac arrest two days before. For those in our tight DK Asheville community, I hope you remember her fondly, and keep me close as I grapple with a fifty-four-year block of loving memories. I have been surrounded by family and closest friends over these few days. Some of these hours are ok, many are not. I trust that the ratio will improve while knowing I will never be whole.
To all who knew her, I know she would be sending you a warm farewell.
As you can imagine, memories and tributes and photos have been filling my FB feed over these few days and for that, I am so grateful. But they seem to fulfill me and break me at the same time. The following words from my daughter Summer are different. We adopted her in 1999 when she was fourteen, after the death of her mother and our dear friend, Sue. This reflection is nothing short of profound when describing my precious wife, Joy.
I was lucky to know Joy and blessed to be part of a big ol rainbow family of love that grows greater every year. A family that grew when the greatest love story ever began: when Randy met Joy. A long ass time ago y’all, more than a half century of mutual evolution together. Imagine!! That steadfast love modeled patience and commitment for so many of us young couples; we all take our chosen to the cabin for approval first! But I learned more than romance from Joy. She was one of the only (and certainly best) friends my mom ever had because she was all supportive and no competitive. Joy didn’t have the ego that drives women to tear each other down. She just gave grace and let people be exactly who they were. I remember confiding in her about my physical insecurities when I was an adolescent. She didn’t argue with me or try to negate what I was feeling. She looked right through me and said “your high cheekbones are going to make people envy you, just wait” but then she read my palm and told me my future would be far greater than my looks. I never thought of that! She had a way of bending reality, but never breaking with the truth. She was truly a magical bean! She taught me how to make something from nothing, in so many ways. I learned how to sew from joy just after my mama died and got endless compliments on that purse stitched together with all the finest red scraps from Christmas costumes, ones she had lovingly created from sugar plum visions. Joy showed me another way to be a woman. One who was femme af and simultaneously let go of the idea that society or anybody could define a good life. She never shouted, but she had beautifully drawn boundaries that she protected. Hallelujah for this woman, who knew when she was done and would randomly leave the table with little more than a wave a nod on her way to bed. She was just so real, so honest, so dam brave. She commanded an audience with her wild tales and baffling intellect, weaving all the parts of her life together and presenting it artfully. The lessons I learned from joy are just too many to name. She actually was Mother Nature to me, building a bridge to the natural world where we can just be. I’ll never stop unpacking the lessons she bestowed on me, and I’ll never stop being grateful for the depth and intricacies of this person. A larger than life partner who was down for all the crimes, who will be missed dearly. The time is never long enough. Joy gave you all her attention, peered into your soul and time just slowed down when she spoke to you. I’ll miss that the most I think.
Some of you know about Joy’s role in our technical investigation of the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979. We dedicated over a decade of our lives trying to tell the truth about the accident against all odds. In 2009, Sue Sturgis from Facing South, published a story about our investigation and its following consequences. Investigation: Revelations about Three Mile Island disaster raise doubts over nuclear plant safety .
That brought a bit of closure to our efforts, but we remained unsure of our impact on the wider story of nuclear power’s future.
Thompson and his wife, Joy, nuclear health physics experts who worked at TMI in the disaster's aftermath, claim that what they witnessed there was a public health tragedy. The Thompsons also warn that the government's failure to acknowledge the full scope of the disaster is leading officials to underestimate the risks posed by a new generation of nuclear power plants.
On December 4th, a feature documentary on the immediate and generational health effects from the accident, will premier in New York City. Joy was excited that our contribution to the truth was finally seeping out and we were both looking forward to seeing the documentary that we play a role in. Alas, she will be watching from afar.
The following trailer opens with my voice. Joy was a brilliant, deep thinker who could look through data and find the nuggets that revealed new mysteries to follow and expose. Together, we did just that. Rest in power my lady.
Thank you for reading. I can’t be around to reply today but I hope you appreciate this remembrance. Daily Kos was an essential part of our daily, often hourly, experience together. She was only banned once. ❤️