Janice Wood and Erica Wood-Bedi

[00:03] JANICE WOOD: Hello, my name is Janice wood. I am 73 years old. Today is April 1, 2021, and our location is Joliet, Illinois. I will be interviewed today by my daughter, Erica Wood Bedi Thank you.

[00:26] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: And so I'm Erica Wood-Bedi I'm 44 years old. Today is April 1, 2021, and I'm also in Joliet, Illinois. And I'm going to be interviewing my mother, Janice Wood. So first question was, when and where were you born?

[00:54] JANICE WOOD: I was born in Washington, D.C. october 27, 1947. I was born at Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C. which is now Howard University Hospital. But when I was growing up, it was Freedmen's Hospital because it was built by free slaves and for freedom slaves around 1870. So that's where I was born.

[01:26] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Washington, D.C. okay, I'm kind of skipping ahead a little here. Did, did you always know you wanted to be a parent?

[01:37] JANICE WOOD: Yes, I did. I've always loved working with children. I had my first babysitting job when I was about 8 or 9. It was a neighbor's child and I went over to their house every morning and got her before her parents went to work. She was about 2. And I enjoyed, I enjoyed working with her. I helped raise some cousins and so forth. So I've always been around children and I've always wanted to be a parent. I felt I had that nurturing nature.

[02:16] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Because wasn't your original degree was social work?

[02:20] JANICE WOOD: Yeah, my original degree was in social work, undergraduate social work. And then I realized that I still had that calling to work with children. So I switched over and got a degree and hours in education, and then I switched over and got my hours in early childhood education. So I've always worked with children. I always wanted to be a parent. I love nurturing. I love teaching. I love making sure that, you know, children are learning and nurturing and growing.

[03:00] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Okay, because you had a daycare for how many you had a home, the home daycare.

[03:04] JANICE WOOD: I had a state licensed home daycare. In fact, it was actually called group daycare because the space that we had and the educational background that I had, it was above the home daycare license, but it wasn't a center. So it fell between home daycare and a center. And we will group daycare because we could care for more children than a regular home daycare, but not quite as many as a big center. But we followed the center, the center rules. We didn't follow home daycare rules. We had to follow the state rules for centers.

[03:51] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: How many years did you say, did.

[03:52] JANICE WOOD: You say I did this? 40 years. Wow.

[03:59] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Did you ever think that that's what you would do?

[04:03] JANICE WOOD: I knew I would be. Well, before that I taught school. I worked at Fairmont Grade School. I also worked in the Joliet public school system and I also was assistant director of a huge daycare center here in Joliet for a while. So it kind of all blended together. And then when my children were toddlers, I decided to have my own business here in the home because we had the space that we did not have to use our living space at all. We had a huge space downtown downstairs. And my husband suggested that, you know, he, he wanted me to be with our children and nurture them and then we also need the income. So he encouraged me to open up my own. He said, you have plenty of experience. You worked at a daycare center. You also. I forgot. I also worked for Head Start for a little while in Chicago, so I had enough experience. Plus I could use my social work experience, which I did with the parents. So, you know, it all worked out. But thank, you know, thanks to my husband for encouraging me and telling me, you know, I'll help you with it. So I did a dual role. I worked and I nurtured my own children and I nurtured, I know, over 100 children through the 40 years.

[05:36] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah, I just. Well, we met, ran into someone the other day. Who, what's her name?

[05:44] JANICE WOOD: Claudia.

[05:45] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Claudia. Whose children had been come to you and they're now in their late 30s.

[05:51] JANICE WOOD: Yes, yes, yes. Along with the full curriculum that we had every day with the children. I mean, we just didn't sit and eat potato chips. I had a regular curriculum, a regular program, a learning program. I followed what, especially for my pre kindergarteners, I followed the curriculum for the district schools so that my kids, when they left here, they would be ready and prepared to go into the public schools or whatever school they were going to be going to. And besides that, I also had an after school program because, which developed because a lot of the parents, when the kids got ready to leave here, they said, miss, what am I going to do now? They're in kindergarten. And I said, well, they can come for, you know, after school care. And so I built up a big following for that. So it was, it was quite, it was something.

[06:52] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: You think that's why my sister ended up going into daycares?

[06:58] JANICE WOOD: Yes, I think that's why she got into the. After she graduated from college, you know, she got into daycares and in fact she helped set up A couple of daycares around here, you know, from her. Yeah, from her expertise. She also helped write some grants because I had written some grants, and so she knew how to write grants. And so I was heavily into the early childhood, as we call it now, early childhood education program. We wrote grants. We did workshops. I did some workshops through a agency here that was dedicated to early childhood education. And they would call. They. They would call on me to do workshops and those type of things. So it was not just downstairs with the kids five days a week from six to six. It was also out in the community.

[08:00] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah, well, and then we used to. For a while you had those. You have programs at the. I remember those programs, like at the church. Like, what was that like for the end of the school year?

[08:13] JANICE WOOD: Yes, for about 10 years, we had a graduation program. The ones the children who were going to enter kindergarten, we would recognize them, and then the other children would do songs and recite little poems and do different things.

[08:29] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: That's that clown.

[08:31] JANICE WOOD: Yeah, And I had a clown that used to come. I don't want to, you know, say her name, but for legal reasons. But she was a licensed clown, and she would come and do a program, what we would do, because everybody wanted to come to the program. We would rent the gym at my church, and that's where we would have the graduation program. And I would actually have them walk in with little graduation caps. And I gave them certificates, my ones who were going to kindergarten. And it. I mean, one couple of years, we pretty much filled up the gym. Yeah, parents really. They would bring everybody. And then after the program was over, we would always have food, and I don't mean pizza. We would have chicken and potato salad and green beans, and it just turned into something. In fact, some people who didn't even have children in our daycare who belong to our church, they would come to see if they could help out or whatever they could do. So, yeah, we. We did all that.

[09:40] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah, the daycare is really well known in the community, I think, for all those years. Yeah, especially I think, in, like, the. The black community in Joliet, the African.

[09:51] JANICE WOOD: American and the Hispanic community, as well as.

[09:54] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: You had some white kids.

[09:56] JANICE WOOD: Yeah, I did. I did. I had. I had some. I had some white kids and. And I had some white parents that just supported me. I mean, they were sending me everybody. I had some Hispanic parents that were sending me everybody. And then, because Raphael and his family. Boy, I have a lot of them. And then the African American community that supported me, supported my business. I Want to say right here that we have two rooms and, well, actually three rooms downstairs that we use for the daycare for the early childhood, I want to say, program. And we had a small kitchen down there and all, so nobody had to touch our living quarters at all upstairs here.

[10:44] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah. So is that, I think, seems like that's part of the.

[10:49] JANICE WOOD: Like.

[10:50] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: What would you call it, like your legacy or how you'd like to be remembered?

[10:54] JANICE WOOD: Yes, Mrs. Wood. I even had parents sometimes they would send people to me and see, because I had a full registration process. I just didn't accept you, you know, but you had to fill out your forms and you had to get your physicals for the state. And then I had to interview you like we're interviewing each other now, you know. And then I made the final decision, you know, whether we had space for your child or not. We had a handbook, which my husband graciously helped me set up. We had release forms, especially who was going to pick your child up, because I wanted to make sure that, you know, the child was released from me into the right hands. So. And sometimes we ran into those problems. I mean, it wasn't. Every day was different, but, you know, it was. Yeah, it was. It was well known. But I'm getting back to. I had. I've had a couple of times parent people show up on my doorstep. This is the daycare. I said, yeah, well, here's my child. And I say, well, you know, we have to have an interview process. And I come on in, you know, we have to have an interview process and, you know, go through the, you know, the motions with that. So, you know, and that. That's how. That's how it was. So people liked it because it was organized. I'm not bragging, but it was organized. And I, you know, didn't flip flap, you know, with things. I tried to plan everything out, you know, I had a little office, Erica, you know, downstairs my desk and all. And we were also on a state food program, which I loved, because that guaranteed that the child got a balanced meal. This. It was government through F. What is that? Fh. Usda. It was through the United States Department of Agriculture. And you had to be licensed to be on the program. And that guaranteed that your child got a balanced lunch, a balanced breakfast, and two balanced snacks per day. And it did not have to come out the parents pocket, nor my pocket. The state reimbursed me back for the money. I just had to prove at the end of every month with receipts and forms, you know, that this Happened and that the, you know, children were here and that they ate. And I had to list everything they ate every day. Which takes me to another thing. There was a lot of paperwork. A lot of people thought, oh, you get up, you get the kitties, you run around the room, you know, you sing songs and all. No, there was a lot of paperwork because we were licensed. I had to fill out a lot of paperwork every evening, you know.

[13:57] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah.

[13:57] JANICE WOOD: To verify.

[13:58] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: I remember that always, especially before everything was computerized, there was all different forms. You had to.

[14:05] JANICE WOOD: Yes.

[14:05] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: What the kids ate and whatnot.

[14:07] JANICE WOOD: Right, right, right. But it was a beautiful United States Department of Agriculture nutrition program. And it really was good. And it made me aware of, you know, what was nutritious and what wasn't. Also, every three months, the state sent in a monitor to go over the food paperwork with me. And all that was through the United States Department of Agriculture, the food program. They sent out a monitor every month. And, you know, she would be here maybe 40 minutes and she would observe a meal, you know, and make sure that my pantries were straight. You know, everything like that.

[14:56] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Oh, not to. Not to cut you off, but I wanted. I also wanted to know. So that's obviously a huge thing that people around here are going to remember.

[15:04] JANICE WOOD: You for, but how.

[15:05] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: How else would you like to be remembered? What other things would you like to remember people for? Be remembered for?

[15:12] JANICE WOOD: I like, huh? Go ahead. Oh, yeah. I'd like to be remembered as a person that gave her heart and her mind and her soul, you know, to other people. I like to be remembered as. As a helper. Real quick, getting back to the daycare. If I had a parent that I knew was sincere and had been a good, you know, payer, and the children were well behaved and, you know, and she said, Ms. Wood, I just don't have it this week, but I'm gonna get it to you. I'm gonna get. I would trust a person. I didn't do it too often, but I would. I had to know them real good, you know, and I would trust them and say, okay, we can work it out. And it would always, you know, come. I like to be remembered with that. I'd like to be remembered as a person who, when. When you have a mother standing on your doorstep and it brings tears to my eyes on a Monday morning and her eyes are swollen because she has been in a domestic situation all weekend and the children are crying and she has to get to work and she don't know what to do, you know, and I'M grabbing the kids. Come on in, honey. And I. And just going in prayer with her, you know, that's what I would like to be remembered. Always saying, honey, here, sit down in the chair. I'll call your job and tell them that, you know, you're going to be a little late, or, you know, those kind of things. Or why don't I know a domestic violence agency? And I would call the agency. I have done that many a time. And, you know, those kind of things I would like to be remembered for. You know, Ms. Wood took time with me, you know, she just didn't run a business, you know, and so I'd like to be remembered, you know, for. For that. For just giving my heart been. Understand. Yeah. Compassionate. Compassionate, especially those in. In situations like that. Or I could tell this one time I had a father that came to pick the children up. And we've always been told when in different workshops and different conventions I've been to, if a parent comes in and they're inebriated, do not let the children go. Have the parents sit down. And, you know, or if the parent insists and you can't get any other help, then, you know, call the, you know, Joliet police and tell them which way the parent went, you know, and for the protection of the children. But I had a. I had a father, and he was really inebriated, and he sat down in the chair, and he slid out the chair. It was about five minutes to six. I didn't have very many people here. He slid out the chair on the fleece. I mean, well, I can't go anywhere. I said, okay, you sit there. And I got a hold of a relative on the phone, and they said, okay, we'll be right there, you know, and in the meantime, I call the paramedics guy, you know, and the paramedics, they said, oh, miss, he's just drunk. I said, I know his relatives are on their way, but I just had to document, you know, I had to document all the time when situations came up and a lot of situations came up and I had to document, but I want people to know. And the mother thanked me. Later on, she said, I'm so embarrassed. I said, nothing to be embarrassed about. It happened, it happened. And. And it doesn't go any farther than this door, okay? And, you know, so I'd like to just be remembered for that. I'd like to be remembered as a mother of three children, four grandchildren. And I especially like to be remembered as my husband's best friend, his sidekick, sparring partner. I really would. I would love to be remembered, you know, that my husband and I. Edward Jury. Carol Wood III is his name. I would like to be, you know, remembered as he and I work together on things for those.

[19:41] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: How many years was it that. That you two actually did do the daycare together?

[19:46] JANICE WOOD: Well, we did it together the last about seven or eight years of the whole. 40 years, because he worked outside the home, and then when he retired, he came on board full force.

[20:01] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah.

[20:02] JANICE WOOD: And we worked together with it, you know, But I would like to be remembered as his sidekick, his best friend, his sparring partner, all of that. His confidant, all of it.

[20:19] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: How has your life been different from what you imagined it would be when you were younger?

[20:25] JANICE WOOD: How is my life different? I don't know.

[20:29] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: What did you think you were going to do when you were 16?

[20:31] JANICE WOOD: Huh?

[20:31] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: When you were 16?

[20:33] JANICE WOOD: You can't remember that far back. I'm 73. No. What was I going to do? Oh, well, I had aspirations. I wanted to go to college. I wanted to do things. You know, I wanted to party. Hey, hey, you know, have a good time. Finger pop. Hey, I'm not gonna say I did.

[20:59] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: I don't know what finger popping is.

[21:00] JANICE WOOD: Well, you know, finger popping, okay, But. Yeah, but I did have goals and aspirations because I grew up in a household where people pushed education. They said, you know, you can go as far as you can go. You know, the sky's the limit. It's education. And because I had grandparents, I lived in an intergenerational household. I grew up in an intergenerational household, and my maternal grandparents were in the house, and they were very smart people, but they did not have a chance. Due to segregation and racism and so forth, they did not have a chance to finish high school. But my parents had finished high school, My mother had finished college. My father had done two years. So everybody was on, you know, education, advancement, learning, you know, achievement. So that's, you know, so I had nothing. I had no choice but to, you know, look forward, as one of my goals was to go to college. Go to college, get an education.

[22:15] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: But you didn't know what you were gonna.

[22:17] JANICE WOOD: Yeah, I always, you know, like I said, I always wanted to work with kids, and I always wanted to help people. I was doing social work when I was 10 years old, if you have time for that. My grandmother, my maternal grandmother, who I lived with, she was an excellent cook, and she loved to help people. I mean, she'd help the whole neighborhood. Boy, I could go into 20,000 stories of that. And she. In the wintertime in D.C. it gets cold. It doesn't stay real cold, but it gets cold. She would make big jars, big pots of soup, and she would put the soup in Mason jars and wrap it in newspaper. And my brother, my cousin and I would have to go in the neighborhood and pass out jars of soup to people because they loved Mrs. Dyson's soup. And some people might have. As my grandmother would say, well, she's got 10 children. Of course, I say, it ain't my problem, but she would say, I have. She's got 10 children. Now, you make sure you give her two jars. Yes, ma'am. So we had to do that. So I was doing social work and helping people when I was 10 years old. I feel it was social work.

[23:38] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Okay. No, I can see that.

[23:40] JANICE WOOD: Yeah. Yeah. And she had us doing a whole lot of other things, you know, helping the neighborhood and all of that kind of stuff. Going to the store for people. I got in trouble one time for going to the store for the lady around the corner who was crippled. And I went to the store for her, and the lady gave me a nickel. And I thought that was big money. And I came home and showed my grandmother. Of course, I got in a lot of trouble for that because my grandmother told me, you don't take money from the cripple lady, as we called her. And she didn't mind being called a cripple lady. She. You don't take money from her. You help her. She needs help. So I had to take the nickel back. My brother told my brother. My brother told me I was stupid because my cousin did, too, because they said, you should have just kept it and not told Grandma. But I was, you know, hey, you.

[24:29] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Didn'T know any better.

[24:30] JANICE WOOD: I didn't know any better. So you don't know. But I had to, you know, I had to help people a lot in my life. So I felt like I was doing social work real quick. I had a friend, we were 16 and. Well, we were 17 when this happened. She was 16. She. When she had a baby out of wedlock, which was in my neighborhood. Okay, you just didn't do that. But anyway, she. And so my grandmother told me, she said, now everybody's turning their back on Sandra. Don't you dare do that. You be her friend and you see whatever you can do to help Sandra. So it was one summer in June, and they had all of these government jobs for high school students. And I was on my way to the streetcar stop to go out to the Pentagon. I was going to get one of those summer jobs.

[25:32] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Uhhuh.

[25:33] JANICE WOOD: And Sandra was sitting on the porch. She said, where you going? I said, I'm going out here to the Pentagon to get one of them summer jobs. She said, oh, I would love to go just for the ride. I said, I got enough money in my pocket. Come on. So she wouldn't ask her mother would her mother watch the baby. And she said, let me change my shirt. And me. She and I rode an hour out because we had to make two stops on streetcar to the Pentagon. When we got out there, I was filling out the form. The lady behind the desk said, and who are you? She said, oh, I'm. I'm Sandra. I'm just here with her. She said, well, you can fill out an application. She says, no, I can't. I'm not finishing school. I got a baby. She said, you're the person we're looking for. So she got the job for the summer. I didn't get it because I didn't qualify enough, because I didn't have enough, as you say, strikes against me. But I was so happy, I really was, that Sandra got the job and they paid for the babysitter. And I was just so tickled because we knew, we didn't know that day. But then the next day they called and she got girl, I got the job. Of course, they sent me a rejection notice, but I mean, you know, I was happy for her. And that's what I think with social work. You know, those are the kind of things that you do. You try to work with people, you try to help them. You know, you don't, as the saying goes, you don't feed a. Give a man a fish every day to eat. You show him how to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life. So I do agree with that.

[27:15] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Okay. So I would agree, I think that you been like that pretty much all of. Well, as long as I have one more. Another question. What are your dreams for your children and grandchildren?

[27:30] JANICE WOOD: Well, my main dream and because I'm a Christian and I grew up in a Christian household, that my children accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior and that one day we will all be together when we leave this earth. That's my dream. That my children will accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior and that they will live as he wants them to live. That they will live by what the Bible says and that they will understand that Jesus saves and he forgives and he knows we are not perfect. Because I'M not perfect. It. No, by no means. But he does love us, and he died for us. That's what I want. And that they will. That. That's my dream for my children and my grandchildren.

[28:21] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Okay. All right. Is there anything else you'd like to add or say?

[28:29] JANICE WOOD: I got tons of stories.

[28:31] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: You got 10 minutes? You got a few minutes?

[28:34] JANICE WOOD: I got 10 minutes.

[28:35] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Well, I don't know. Yeah, about 10 minutes.

[28:37] JANICE WOOD: Okay. I want to say that I came from an African American family that goes back to slavery. I have been able to trace one of my great grandfathers. Not exactly where he was from, but I do have his name, his birth date and all of that. And he came from. In Virginia, and he came to the District of Columbia around 1875. And he raised a family. My other grandparents. My grandparents came from Southern Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. And they came off. My great grandparents also came off of a plantation in St. Mary's county, southern Maryland. The Dysons, and also the Small woods and the Thompsons and the Youngs, they all came from Southern Maryland. And so I had history before Ancestry.com came out. I had plenty of history to talk about. My grandfather that lived here with me, I brought him from D.C. he lived here about what, about 10 years, something like that? Yeah, he lived here with us, and he was 103 when he died here in Joliet. I brought him to live here with me and we buried him back in.

[30:12] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: In D.C. what was his name?

[30:14] JANICE WOOD: William H. Dyson. D Y S O N. So I did also the Briggs family. The Briggs family from Washington, D.C. that was my great grandfather, Augustus Briggs, that came from Virginia in around, like I said, around 1875.

[30:34] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Well, that has been on.

[30:35] JANICE WOOD: That's maternal. Oh, okay, Pop. All that's maternal. Now on real quick, on the. On my father's side, the Henson's, H E N S O n came from a plantation out in Prince George's County, Maryland, out right outside the District. My father was born in the District, but his people came, the Hensons. They came from. From out there. So do you.

[31:02] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: We didn't really talk about it, but would you like to say anything about the vision issues?

[31:07] JANICE WOOD: Yes. I was born with a vision problem. I was a breech birth. My feet came first, and the forceps that they used damaged all the muscles in my eyes. I was born at Freedman's Hospital, but being an African American Hospital in 1947, it had limited equipment, so, you know, they didn't have a choice but to force me out. But the doctors told my Mother. That I might not see. And I did. I am seeing. I. You know, I don't drive because of my vision, but thank God for my husband and my children and my grandchildren. Take me where I have to go. It has been a little difficult through life, but I learned how. That's another reason why I love to work with children who have. Who are handicapable. Not handicapped, but handicapable.

[32:07] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: I know you said when it was hard because you had to have glasses so early.

[32:11] JANICE WOOD: I wore glasses at the age of 2 years old, and it was unthinkable in the African American community, so I stood out. But I learned how to make it. My parents made a sacrifice to make sure I had the best glasses, the best thermologist. They really, you know, really protected me with that.

[32:39] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: So. And then when you were 16, you said there was a. That when you found out you wouldn't be able to get a license.

[32:45] JANICE WOOD: Yes.

[32:46] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: How did that go?

[32:48] JANICE WOOD: My father knew that. I. I went to the DMV. Oh, I was gonna get that license. 16, I was gonna drive. And I passed the written test, but I couldn't pass that little box. And so they sent me to my ophthalmologist, who was a Jamaican lady at the time, and she says, no, I'm not fitting this out. No, no, no, no, no, you're going to kill somebody. And then I started crying. She says, you can cry all you want, but I don't want you out there, you know? And I couldn't get insurance anyway. My father had a. We worked for the government. He. We could not get any insurance. So I learned how to deal with it, you know, and when I met my husband, I let him know, hey, I'm not going to be able to drive. But I learned every street, every stoplight, every bus stop, every streetcar, because I. That's me. If I don't have anybody to take me, I'm going to find my way to get there. I, you know, I'm. I'm that independent. So. Yeah. And now people call me and ask me how to get around Jolly.

[33:59] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah, they do.

[34:01] JANICE WOOD: And I said, wait a minute. I don't drive. Yeah, but you know how to get there. So.

[34:09] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: So that been a way to compensate for not being able to. To drive distance, being able to navigate for people.

[34:17] JANICE WOOD: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I navigate for your dad. I navigate for my husband all the time. I say, no, we turn here. No, don't go down there. Turn there. He says, okay, so. So I navigate. I could get you from here to D.C. and back or from here To Oklahoma, to my husband's home and back. I can tell you every highway we take, every interstate where we stop, and whatever I observe like that. And my hearing is exceptional. My hearing and my smell, you know, have been my eyes made up for. Yes, I can smell stuff. I was in a fire once, and I kept telling everybody it was a fire, and they kept telling me, no, it wasn't, and I said, yes, it is, and it was, because I could smell it. I could smell the burning before anybody else did.

[35:07] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Okay. All right.

[35:09] JANICE WOOD: Oh. So how long have you and dad been married? We have been married 50 years. We'll be 51 years. July 26, 2021. We got married on a beautiful Sunday in Washington, D.C. it was hot as. I don't know what it was. 98 degrees and very humid. If you've ever been to DC, it's very humid. But we got married in DC and then we lived in Maryland for a year. And then in 1971, we came to Chicago because of his job. He got a good job with Sears as a manager, and we came to. And then in 1972, we moved to Joliet, and we've been here ever since. Okay.

[35:56] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: All right.

[35:57] JANICE WOOD: And we know everybody, and we related. We came to Joliet with Hollywood with nobody. I mean, just us. And we. Now we're related to half of Joliet and the other half we know. So everybody knows us.

[36:13] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: So you could think you'll just stay here.

[36:16] JANICE WOOD: Yeah.

[36:17] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah. Because at one. At one point, you guys talked about moving to back to Oklahoma, right?

[36:23] JANICE WOOD: Yeah. Where Dad's from. Yeah, we had. But I think we'll stay here.

[36:28] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Okay.

[36:29] JANICE WOOD: You know, we've gotten used to the weather now. It was totally different. DC Was different weather from here. Oklahoma's different weather from here. So we've got news. Very different. Yes.

[36:44] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: All right. Well, thank you.

[36:46] JANICE WOOD: Thank you, Erica, for sitting down and doing an interview. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for. And getting us getting me involved in this. And, you know, I like doing stuff like this. I know you do, because I'm on Ancestry.com for the last 20 years, and I got a whole lot of history to. To talk about, so.

[37:08] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Which I'm gonna have to get that sometime.

[37:10] JANICE WOOD: Yeah.

[37:10] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: So I have that.

[37:11] JANICE WOOD: Yes.

[37:12] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: So. And then Father will be up next, perhaps.

[37:17] JANICE WOOD: Yeah.

[37:17] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: I have a feeling I'm gonna have to ask him some more questions and pull it out of him a little more than I had to pull it out of you.

[37:24] JANICE WOOD: I talk all the time. Yeah. Okay. Is it over?

[37:32] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Oh, we got.

[37:33] JANICE WOOD: We got about one minute.

[37:35] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Yeah. Yeah, I think we're done. All right.

[37:37] JANICE WOOD: Any one last.

[37:38] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: Any last thoughts?

[37:40] JANICE WOOD: No?

[37:41] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: All right.

[37:42] JANICE WOOD: I just love my children and my grandchildren, all of them.

[37:46] ERICA WOOD-BEDI: I know you do. All right.

[37:50] JANICE WOOD: They think I'm crazy, okay?