George Nathan Edwards
JoJo
Born November 13th, 2003
JoJo died on October 18th from a drowning accident in the family pool. He was almost 3 years old. He will be missed. In the morning of the day he died, he accompanied his mother to her doctor’s office. This was the same doctor that delivered him and her office is at the same Hospital where he was born- Memorial Hermann Memorial City. Incidentally, he was life flighted to Memorial Herman but mercifully, God took him away from us at the Texas Medical Center location.
JoJo was introduced to the pool at an early age, when he was just about five months old. He had a floating full body swimsuit and would plead with his parents to get in the water. Unfortunately, the very thing that he liked so much claimed his life.
Reflecting back on the approximately 1000 days that JoJo was here, we recall his love of trains. We noticed this from the time he was about one year old and he had his Santa Express train which went around the Christmas tree. His parents encouraged him to get engaged and “push the button”. He enjoyed pushing the button on the control panel to blow the whistle, ring the bell and have Santa say Ho Ho Ho, Merry Xmas.
As a family, our first international trip was to London in 2005 where, among other things, we visited JoJo’s uncle who happened to live in a loft over a real train station. There JoJo would stand at the window for hours looking at the Locomotives speed by. He noticed the RR Crossing Barrier being lowered, the lights flashing and the bells sounding a warning that a train was approaching.
By the way, JoJo was given an opportunity to see most of his Nigerian aunts and uncles while he was in London and he enjoyed every moment with his African family. The fact of the matter is that the only first line relatives that JoJo did not see first hand were his Grandfather and Uncle Daniel who are living in Nigeria, although he spoke to each of them routinely on the phone.
In September of this year, JoJo visited his family in Pennsylvania. There he went to The National Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, PA which was, for him, train paradise. There before his very eyes was eight huge different train layouts all equipped with buttons to push that would make bridges rise, fire engines go, and trains move all over the board. On our return to Texas, we surprised JoJo by stopping in Tennessee and showed him the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
Returning to Houston, we found a larger train set that he could ride around the tracks. This kid was overjoyed and he would ride that battery operated train for hours, listening to the simulated sounds of a train and entertained his mom and dad with the biggest and brightest smile we could have hoped for.
JoJo was interested a cartoons and he was quick to say “press play” to see the video on the car’s DVD, “Jonah” but what really captured his attention was the PBS show: Caillou. We recorded several sessions and he would watch them daily and sing along with the introductory theme song.
He would love to accompany his parents to the mailbox but JoJo was scared of his own shadow. If we went to get the mail at night, we vividly recall his repeated jumps into the arms of his parents as he interacted with the street lights and his shadow formed on the ground.
JoJo loved to share. Last Saturday, we went to the Farmers Market. After shopping we offered all of the kids treats. As is his typical behavior, he would take his snack food to his little sister before he would eat anything himself. We should add that he loved to eat but he had some unusual favorites for a kid: raisins, fruit bars, grapes, fruit juices and crab meat.
Notwithstanding a diet without much candy, JoJo still got cavities. He went to a baby dentist and was diagnosed with six cavities. So there he sat in a dental chair, having a dentist fill 6 cavities without any sedative- wow! This almost overwhelmed his mommy who had to hold him down. Given his screaming throughout, the dentist was glad to finish and get this kid out of the chair: JoJo was clearly bad for business.
As his parents we would joke that the way his body was developing, he was all “head and tummy” with skinny little legs and arms. We recall that when he ran he would leave his arms straight and behind his back, which gave the impression that these little legs were way out in front of him. Although he was a skinny little boy, JoJo loved eating so much that we had to put a chain lock on the pantry door to limit his food raids.
His father loved to change him. He would stand on the bathroom countertop and after he was changed he would give his dad a bid hug which we called a “necklace” and wow, he made it worth changing him on demand.
His dad began going to the Weight Room at the Fitness Club to build his muscular strength just so that he could pick JoJo up when he greeted dad upon his arrival from work. Dad found it to be noteworthy that JoJo would patiently wait until his older sister was hugged and then he knew it was his turn.
JoJo enjoyed water. He would take a bath, fill the tub with his toys and stay in the tub for hours. The only way to get him out was to turn on the cold water. Mommy would then wrap him in a big towel and lay him across the bed for dressing and he would just smile with satisfaction. He was patient but once he got his pants on and was put on the floor, he scooted off to play.
When mom needed space she would send JoJo to his dad. His dad loved this assignment because it gave him time to hang out with his pal. His dad especially remembers taking JoJo to Sam’s and the joy in JoJo going around the store picking up samples.
He jumped at the invitation to go to the Fitness Club which had a Child Center. He succeeded in making so many little friends that one day a staff member cried out: “JoJo is in the house, let the fun begin”. We enjoyed picking him up to get his drink of water because he could not reach the water cooler.
JoJo and his sister, Gladys captured the love of the neighbors at Kelliwood Lakes. When they went out last Halloween between rain showers, they bag was so full of candy that Dad had to take most of it to the Osyka office for proper distribution.
His best buddy was Gladys. His big trill was his daily trip to drop her off at her school. He looked forward to this so much that if he was misbehaving, all we had to do was threaten him with staying home and he would immediately turn around his behavior. The flip side of this is that he learned that when Gladys goes to school he had mommy all to himself all day, as a practical matter since his baby sister sleeps for large periods of time.
JoJo had a couple of memorable phrases. For example, when he was asked a “why” question he would respond: “Because I say so- I say so!” When he wanted to give a big hug he would say “mommy, necklace.” He liked the DVD on Jonah and would sing in his childish way: “Jonah was a prophet, uh, uh!”
JoJo created his “quiet time” space in the sitting room section of mommy and daddy’s bedroom. It was there that he would sit for about two hours each day, watching Noggin, with his sippy cup in one hand and cereal trail mix in the other with his blanket on his leg before taking his nap. He called mommy and daddy’s bedroom “my wooom (room)”.
JoJo was independent and would frequently go to the second level in the house but his parents did not want him there. In order to get him downstairs we would ring the front door bell and wait for him at the bottom of the stairs. JoJo was so scared of the bell that he would run down the stairs as fast as he could and jump into either daddy or mommy’s arms.
JoJo was a kisser. Not only would he shower both mommy and daddy with his “muuumwma’s” but he made sure he kissed Georgianna every day. He had recently learned to say sorry and it was a delightful sight to see him apologize to Gladys: effectively the two of them would hug each other and regardless of the offense, Gladys would instantly forgive him.
JoJo attended Redeemer Community Church in Katy and made a strong bond with Micah Close and that was his first friend. It was a joy to see the delight in JoJo’s eyes when he and Mica played.
Occasionally, his dad would bring him to the office where he succeeded in charming all of the Osyka Corporation staff. His biggest joy was to run the office hallways and go to his dad’s office and go into the cabinets to get whatever treat he could find.
If you are a believer then let us rejoice and celebrate this occasion together. This is a kid who lived for 1000 days and did no harm. He simply loved his dad, mom and sisters. He had a passion for making people smile and feeling good. Perhaps because of his very short life, all of you who knew JoJo, now know at least one person that you can say for certain is in heaven.
The Edwards Family has contacted The Compassionate Friends here in Katy to assist them in the grieving process and will begin to attend their open sessions. The mission statement is enclosed for your review:
“The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child and to provide information to help others be supportive. We are a national nonprofit, self-help support organization that offers friendship, understanding, and hope to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings. Our meetings are open to family members who are grieving the death of a child of any age and by any cause. There is no religious affiliation, and there are no membership dues or fees. Our goal is that everyone who needs us will find us and everyone who finds us will be helped.” (For more information please visit their website: www.compassionatefriends-katy.org).
All donations can go to
The Compassionate Friends-Katy
Mail to
Albert Tapia, TCF, Katy, Treasurer
PO 5014
Katy, Texas 77491
Thank you for blessing us with these donations in memory of your George Nathan.
The Edwards Family: George, Tonye, Gladys, Georgianna
Guest Book
Sign Guestbook