(Myrtle Kennedy was a neighbor of Jim Jones’ family in Lynn, Indiana. She often took care of the young child, including taking him to her church.)
I’ve never had a dream about you – maybe it will happen one day – but you leave me with nothing but good vibes. There may be a bit of sadness too, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
I think you can be described as a truly good person, someone who was wise and trustworthy. You did your best for Jim, and were proud of him and his accomplishments. You didn’t praise him on one hand, then put him down and belittle him with the other. I’m certain he was forever grateful to have you in his life.
You were different because you were not a part of the Temple. You knew Jim outside all of that. The dark side of Jim was never revealed to you. It’s as if you were not meant to experience his darkness because there was a certain rare purity, genuineness and trust between you. You knew a real side of Jim.
I see you as his mother in heart and soul, the mother he never really had, but hoped for.
On your final meeting in 1976, you were still proud of him. You instinctively knew it was the last time you would see each other, and told him you would meet again in Heaven. You passed away in September 1977, and I feel it was a blessing that you didn’t live to see his end in November 1978. I don’t think you met Jim after death, but if he was going to meet anyone from his life again, it would be you.
(Jolene McDonald is an admin of the Facebook group Jim Jones Cult Leader created in February 2018, and the creator of a blog – the Jim Jones Information Blog – to share some of the informative posts from the group. The posts from the blog also appear here.
Jolene’s other stories in this edition of the jonestown report are To Lynetta and Me and Mr. Jones. Her collected works on this site are here. She may be reached at immaculatesleep@gmail.com.)