Shep Ferguson Ch. 12 Scotti Lynn, Janice and Jessamyn

Scotti Lynn's part of the update is quite short this time. I didn't realize how few photos I had before I sent her off to University. The part on the twins is a little longer, but not by intention--Author's Note.

A moment now to try to unravel the relationships, both by blood and marriage in this part of the Ferguson family.

Shep Ferguson (Harvey's dad, remember?) is on the left and his kid brother, Scott Ferguson is next to him. On the far right is Scott's wife, Heather Simmons Ferguson.

Below are Heather's two daughters; Jenna, on the left. No one knows who Jenna's father is, she was born before Heather came to Pleasantview and before she met Scott--and Heather's not telling. Jenna's husband, Jesse Blackford is in the center and Jenna's half-sister Scotti Lynn is on the right.

These are Jenna and Jesse's twin daughters; Janice is on the left and Jessamyn is on the right. Therefore, since Scotti Lynn is Jenna's half sister, that makes her an aunt to the twins who are actually the same age.

To add to the confusion, Jesse's older brother, Jeremy Blackford (on the left, below) is married to Shep Ferguson's oldest daughter, Gillian (on the right).

This makes Jesse (and therefore the twins) loosely related by marriage on both sides to Shep and Scott. He's Scott's step-son-in-law and Gillian Ferguson's brother-in-law. The relationships in the small village of Pleasantview have been getting rather complicated. Or as we like to say down south, "I'm my own grandpaw". I put this all on a Family Echo page and was going to include the link, but it's so wide you have to scroll across for a mile across the screen to see everything.

Anyway, on to Scotti Lynn's short update...

Scotti Lynn

To Scott and Heather the weeks seemed suddenly to fly by now that their daughter Scotti Lynn was going to go off to the University. She was Scott's only child but at least she would have family around while she lived on campus: Heather's two grandchildren, the twins Janice and Jessamyn would be there, too.  All three girls were good friends as well as relatives. In fact, Scotti Lynn was the twins' aunt, but she certainly didn't feel like their aunt when they hung out together; much more like cousins.

With only only a few weeks left to go Scotti Lynn made her father promise on his honor not to forget to feed the fish in the aquarium. He didn't remind her that he'd been the one doing that until she was around eight, when she'd assumed the responsibility.

 

Meanwhile, Scotti Lynn seemed to have more admirers than ever; among them Shane Severino and redheaded Fletcher Silverman. Of course, Fletcher was only a sophomore so she couldn't possibly take him seriously but he was a nice boy and her parents liked him quite well. Scotti Lynn often went with him to play pool at the Galaxy Arcade. 

In fact, Fletcher was staying to supper the night Scotti Lynn took the taxi to Sim State U. It was a poignant moment when she walked out the front door and her parents knew they would be floundering about in what now suddenly seemed a huge house. With Scotti Lynn gone they would have to rethink their habits and priorities. From the moment she was born, she had brought laughter and light into the home. Her parents were happy she was going on to further her education and find new horizons but they would miss her fiercely.

Janice and Jessamyn

Janice and Jessamyn Blackford were excited that they soon would be leaving for University along with their "Aunt" Scotti Lynn and their friends Debbie Ferguson and Lisa Trottier Goth. Since becoming teenagers the twins now had their own separate bedrooms in the big red brick house they called home.

Janice

Jessamyn

Music, especially dancing, and games of all kind were the focus for Janice who hoped to become a ballerina one day...or, at the very least, one of the "gypsies" on the Broadway stage. Her parents applauded her goals and paid for private dance lessons, but insisted she be practical and get a traditional education to be prepared for life.

Jessamyn was into gardening and painting. She took art lessons; she had always loved to paint and draw since her toddler days. But detailed plans for the future left her cold. She wanted to be open to whatever experiences came her way and, aside from being diligent about her studies, she was more of a "free soul". Or so she considered herself.

The twins were nearly identical, but their family and friends could easily tell them apart. Janice had blue eyes, wavy hair and a fuller face. Her look was a little more glamorous—probably the show biz factor. Jessamyn had green eyes and straight bright copper hair that she wore in a ponytail, her style in clothes, hair and makeup was always more relaxed and a little offbeat.

Mostly the girls hung out together and tried not to get interested in the same boy at the same time. Pleasantview was more a village than a town so it was not easy to do that: there were only about 20 kids in the graduation class.

Janice had taken a part-time job for a while as the cashier at Le Magnifique International Restaurant. Her boss, Lonnie Hammond, had maintained a baked goods section for a while where customers could purchase any of the restaurant's trademark desserts to serve at home, but he had to lay her off when he did away with that idea. She was definitely not interested in waitressing.

It was just as well; this senior year Janice had a lot of assignments and had dance lessons twice a week now instead of just on Thursdays. Jessamyn had not been interested in getting a job; she made a little pin money selling her fresh vegetables and fruit and needed time to work in her greenhouse each day.

What spare time they had they spent hanging out with friends at the Galaxy Arcade, the roller rink, or Sam's Snappy Service, the old-timey drive-in restaurant located halfway between Pleasantview and Bluewater Village.

The girls and their "Aunt" Scotti Lynn at Galaxy Arcade

Brooks Generica, Damon Ottomas and the twins:

Rapid Racers Roller Rink:

When graduation was past and the summer ended Janice and Jessamyn called for taxis from their computer and said goodbye to Jenna and Jesse. Their future was calling.

After they left Jenna made dinner for Jesse and herself and the quiet was deafening. Her husband turned to her and asked,

"Well. So now what do we do?" 

Static Page showing Shep Ferguson family tree HERE

New update on Harvey and Lori Ferguson HERE