VOL. 19 NO. 7 -- APRIL 1, 2024

Our Stories and Features

COLUMNISTS

Reflections/Jonathan Gramling

Jonathan Gramling

Homegoing

There are probably many of you, my dear readers, who don’t know that I was married and had kids what seems like an eternity ago. I met my former wife Joy when I was working on the congressional campaign of Evan Doss, an independent candidate for the seat representing Jackson, MS and the southwest corner of Mississippi.

I was basically in charge of our Jackson office and due to the vandalizing of our campaign office, I was on the evening news show. Well Joy saw me and came to volunteer along with her two-year-old daughter Jennifer. One thing led to another and we got married in 1979 and moved to Madison with Jennifer in tow.

I treated Jennifer as my own child and a year later, in 1980, Andrew was born. We stayed together until 1989 when Joy and I separated and later divorced. We shared custody of the children at first. But due to some circumstances in Joy’s life, I pretty much kept the kids seven days per week.