In Memory of ROAG

 

Joan "Joanie" N. Kennedy

Please note - I don't know Joanie, never met her, never interacted with her on line.  This post is simply my perceptions based on my observations, what I have read and watched, and Joanie's words from her YouTube channel.

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A few weeks back, after neglecting my "Ruger Old Army" .44 Cal. black powder revolver for a some years, I got it out for a good cleaning, intending to load and shoot a few rounds.

My Ruger Old Army

The Ruger Old Army is a very well made firearm (aren't most firearms "very well made"?).  It is perhaps a tad overly stout.  It is a modern retelling of the Remington (New Model Army) 1858, which was in production and in use during the US Civil War.

Remington Model 1858

From what I can glean from the serial number, my Old Army was manufactured in the mid 1990's, so it was about 20 years old when I purchased it used.

As I said, I was planning on firing a few rounds, but before I did I wanted to watch some YouTube videos just to re-familiarize myself with the procedure of preparing, loading, and firing this particular gun.  I just needed a refresher before loading and firing a percussion rifle or revolver.

In YouTube I searched "Ruger Old Army" and found plenty of videos of people describing, loading, firing, and cleaning their guns.  I watched a couple videos before I came across the "Ruger Old Army Girl" Youtube channel.  I thought "this is novel - a lady shooting a black powder revolver?"  So I watched a few of her videos.

Joanie is obviously very knowledgeable when it comes to firearms.  She has many videos on her channel featuring a wide verity of guns.  Over a four year period she had posted more than 400 videos, most of which dealt with her describing, handling and shooting at targets.

I eventually noticed that her last video was made in July of 2021, almost a year ago.  No more videos after that.  So I watched that last video:

The entire short video was simply her looking into the camera along with the sound of her labored breathing - no words.  One month after that video was uploaded, Joanie died of Covid 19 - August 13th 2021 - she was 36 years old.

Joanie was "country".  She was from Magee, a very small city (pop. just over 4,000) in southern Mississippi.

Joanie had an unusual (to me) way of talking - unique in her tone, accent, and pace.  In the first video I watched, her face was not shown, and I couldn't tell if I was listening to a young woman or a 12 year old boy, but after discovering that it was a young lady, and after several videos, the sound of her voice grew on me and I simply enjoyed listening to her share her knowledge of the old guns.

Joanie had some health issues that she was struggling with, which she revealed in a few of her videos.  Some of those issues had resulted in her being bullied, both in her youth and into adulthood.  And as a result, she admitted that she felt that she was "ugly", to which her viewers reassured her that she was not ugly. - but - the internet being what it is, a few viewers were just as we have come to expect - mean, hateful, and belligerent.

Below, in blue, are a few of the final posts Joanie made, from, as best as I can tell, July and August of 2021 - (bold emphases mine):

~ So I was reading over my doctors notes about the ANS test, and this is not a diagnosis as of yet, but they have it narrowed down to a few things...
Keep us in your prayers on this, my dad has been very sick the past couple of days, we found out today the guy he works with is COVID-19 positive, so likely dad has it. We are going in the morning to get tested.
Thank You.

~ So my dad has CV19 and taken to the ER, I tested Negative but am sick if I get worse I shall test again in a couple of days.
That being said I am going to take that break everyone keeps mentioning. If I get worse I will get Vuples to fill you guys in.
Thank you and keep praying.

~ So I made jokes about the China virus, and I still will.
But I have it it's every bit of horrible.
Iv been fighting for my life in ICU.
So this disease rest isn't a laughing matter, iv been fighting the China Virus.

~ Thank you for you're continued prayers. I am still in the ICU in Vicksburg Mississippi. My 02 stays don't want to stay up on their own.
Iv lost a lot of weight and ,have many bruises from being stuck in my hands and arms.
Most of my nurses say I'm through the worst of it and that I'll be mending up soon. Let's pray that be the case!

That's the last post from her.  In the 2nd post from her above she mentions a person going by the name "Vuples" who would let her viewers know if she got worse.  I don't know if Vuples is a relative or close friend, but this person did a good job of updating Joanies followers on YouTube.  The updates lays out a good example of what millions of people have suffered through in the US since Covid hit.  The dating of these comments can be sketchy, so I'm not sure that I have them in the proper order.  All of the comments below are updates from "Vuples" - (bold emphases mine):

~ The day after she filmed this (referring to her last video from July 14th) they put her on a ventilator with a tube and sedated her. She also was showing signs of kidney damage. By Wednesday they had her stabilized. She has not improved as yet but not gone down hill either. We hope she will start coming back up soon.

~ Wed July 28. Her input 02 is down to 40% blood 02 is 97%. Sedation reduced such that she can move her hands and head. Is responding to simple commands. Kidney situation improving. Still on ventilator.

~ Ok. They want to wake her up and remove the tracheal tube. Problem is they tried twice, and twice she comes up fighting. Literally. And waking up from this sedative takes hours. They plan to try again Monday. Her mom has discussed full restraints. Well! She IS a fighter.

~ they tried to remove the vent and wake her up but vitals went up. They will try again this afternoon.

~ She is not allowed visitors. We might get an occasional text message until they sedated her. For the past two weeks it has been status updates from the hospital and her Mom. I cant TELL her anything now. And I never could before, and surely wont be able to after she wakes. You can make a cat do anything.....it wants to do. Its basically the same for Joan.

~ Tuesday Aug 9. Sorry for the delay here. She is alive and thinking despite the sedation. They want to do a tracheotomy as she gives them a fight if she wakes up. They have scheduled her for surgery three times. Each morning they start to prep her her BP and heart rate and temp go up. So they back off and reschedule. Then her temp and vitals go back to normal. Could it be she does not want a stomata? Stay tuned!

~ Aug 12 She has a bacterial infection now. She is on antibiotics. So. This explains the temp and vitals. Her mom is waiting for a doctor to call. It will be next week before they have her in shape to do the surgery and pull the ventilator. Hang in. I’ll post an update when we know more.

~ Friday 6am. She has gone into septic shock from an infection. All vitals are crashing. They say 50% chance. Next 12-24 hours will tell. NOW is the time to pray.

~ update. She has passed on Friday at 2pm.

~ @Jefferson  and all the rest. The world is now a darker place. Let us not indulge in woulda-coulda-shoulda. She got covid. She faced it. She did what the doctors said to do. She confided her fear and her pain to me. Then she faced it and went on. What finally did her in was septic shock from a secondary bacterial infection. The end was quick. 

~ She lived a life with many challenges. There was often pain. Yet she managed to reach out and touch people. Her channel helped as several of her mentors had helped her. In helping herself she also helped us to find joy in the simple things. Take what comfort you can from the fact she is no longer in pain. She was prepared. 

~ I helped her mom sort out her stuff, get her affairs in order and a stone ordered in September. Her mother passed Saturday and was buried today. It’s been a tough year for that family. 

~ No. She was not vaccinated. She should have been. Might be alive today. 

~ I don’t understand all the flap over these shots. Growing up we got small pox, polio and all the others. In the service we got a-z before going overseas. But now people don’t want a covid shot? Wish Joan and her mom had. They might still be here. 

Less than two months after Joanie died, her mother, Carolyn Jean Kennedy, died of Covid - she was 75.

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I suspect that Joanie, if she voted, she likely voted for Trump.  She was likely very pro 2nd Amendment.  I also suspect that she was a Christian.  All of this is just based on what little I know about her from her words in her videos and in the comments sections of her videos. 

 

I believe that Joanie and I could have been friends, in spite of the fact that I am nearly twice her age, am not a Christian, am not a staunch 2nd Amendment advocate, and vote liberal Democrat.  We could have been friends because she liked the Ruger Old Army and liked to talk about it.  

A common interest can make social barriers shrink so much in size that they become very easy to step over.