Janelle Got Out of Bed

Pregnancy was her occupation. Janelle Graves had six children. All girls except the oldest, a boy named Zion. She was confined to bed now, expecting the seventh.

The well-behaved children now ran the household as their second job. The first being school, of course. Part of running the household meant caring for their grandmother as well as their mother. Both matriarchs were church women. Church women who rarely got out of bed but were truly devout Mormon women.

The eldest matriarch, Norma, Janelle’s mother-in-law, required round the clock care, though no one knew what was wrong with her. Nathan, Janelle’s husband, simply said, “ Mother was always in that way.” So for twenty years Janelle waited on her, catering to her every need only to be rebuffed and criticized. The house was never clean enough, her needlepoint was sloppy, the children were irreverent, the food didn’t taste homemade.
Sometimes Julie prayed for the old woman to die. Taking care of six children, a miserable old woman, a house, a husband and having to tithe ten-percent of Nathan’s meager income became overwhelming. So she conceived again to stay in bed and get some rest. Besides, she received praise for doing her duty like a good Mormon wife and adding to the population.

Finally her prayers were answered! The old woman died, leaving a sizable sum to Nathan.

The seventh child, another girl, was born. Janelle got out of bed. She and Nathan took their first vacation in twenty-two years. They were happy to be alone as a couple. Reconnect. Spark the joy!

They went biking in Zion National Park. It had rained the day before. The pavement was slick.Janelle swerved to avoid a car and fell. She tumbled down an embankment injuring her spine.

As a paraplegic she was able to get around in a wheel chair.The money her mother-in-law left helped Nathan redesign the house to accommodate her special needs. The children continued taking care of the house and their mother, though she mostly got out of bed to go to church.

— Mugsy