By Katy Savage, Standard Staff
Jimmy Johnson became an uncle before he was even born.
The 18-year-old student at Woodstock Union High School has a total of 25 nieces and nephews. He goes to school with two of his nieces.
“A lot of people will say, ‘oh is that your sibling?’ Or ‘oh, is that your cousin.’ The whole concept of how someone is an uncle goes right over their heads,” Johnson said. “They can’t comprehend that their dads are my brothers.
“It’s a little awkward…but whatever.”
Jean and Moroni Johnson raised 10 boys and three girls.
But their lives will be less busy soon. Johnson, the youngest of 13 children, is about to graduate from Woodstock Union High School and is currently taking classes to be a phlebotomist — a medical professional trained to draw blood. The reality is starting to set in.
“He’ll say ‘Mom this is the last such and such, Mom next Saturday is the last track meet, Mom this is the last senior game,’” Jean said. “It’s this really funny, bittersweet feeling I have.”
She won’t have to drive him to games and practices and appointments. She won’t have to make sure he’s awake in the morning.
“I’ve done it for so long that, it’s like what do you do?” she said.
Life in the Johnson House
Jimmy Johnson, front, played football at WUHS his junior and senior years of school after convincing his mother to let him play. He also had to wear the No. 32 jersey — another family tradition.
His eight brothers before him wore that same jersey.
“I looked at him and I looked at his eyes and I could see he really wanted to play,” said Jean, who was concerned about concussions.
Jean never understood football, but she volunteered for every game anyway.
She plans to buy the No. 32 jersey for her youngest as a graduation gift. (Rick Russell Photo)
“Let the good lord have a say in that. We accepted the responsibility we were given. I’m not sorry we did,” Moroni said.
There were up to eight kids living under the Johnson house roof in Barnard at the same time. There were three different age breaks between kids, so to the parents it felt more like having three different families.
“The largest challenges were: it’s hard to adjust when you’re old enough to be your youngest brother’s father,” said Tim, one of the brothers.
Jean and Moroni have grandchildren who are as old as their own children.
“A lot of people said, ‘it must have been difficult,’” Moroni said. “It was not difficult.”
The Johnsons lived by some simple house rules like, “When you take your clothes off at night and you don’t have two socks, you march back up to where you took them off and find them,” Jean said.
Jean has only lost three socks in her entire marriage. She bought different socks for each child so she could keep the laundry straight.
She admitted she was overprotective. None of the Johnson children were allowed to drive until they turned 18.
If Jean had to be away from her kids for an extended period, she called several times: in the morning to make sure they were up, then when it was time to take the bus and 15 minutes later, to make sure they were on the bus. In the afternoon, she called to make sure they got home OK and then she called before they went to bed.
“I wanted to make sure it was taken care of,” said Jean.
Jean took them to all their games and practices and all their appointments. She wrote everything down, looking at her to-do list every night before she went to bed and every morning. She likes to cross things off, she said.
She took care of the kids during the day. At night, Moroni gave them their baths, put on their pajamas and read to them — usually Uncle Remus stories — giving Jean time to clean.
Tradition was important in the Johnson household.
The family went to church every Sunday. At every Christmas, Jean decorated the rooms in the house to a different color and different theme. There was always one room designated the “kid’s room” with all of their homemade ornaments.
Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, there’s a Johnson family brunch, complete with sweet rolls and homemade dishes.
“It’s things like that, that mean the most to me,” Jean said. “I don’t need presents.”
Some of the most important Johnson family values are working hard, being honest and respecting others.
Moroni supported the family through his own logging and excavation business. A number of his kids worked for him growing up. Some have started businesses of their own.
Tim Johnson started a business when he was in ninth grade with his brother Mike. They split firewood and sold it locally. They still work together now.
“Mike and I have a unique relationship,” Tim said. They can have tough days, but “at the end of the day I can sit down and have a beer with him and not think about it a bit,” Tim said.
There are two Johnson brothers working for a construction business in Utah. The others have stayed local. One of them is an art teacher, one is a caterer and one is a pharmacist.
Those that own their own businesses have often worked for each other in some capacity through the years.
The Johnson’s don’t always agree, but they always respect each other, they said.
‘Families are families forever’
Jean has 25 grandchildren to keep her busy, but she realizes her life could be different with an empty nest.
“When they’re little and have booboos, you can kiss them and go away,” she said. “When they’re big, they have big booboos and they don’t go away, but what matters is if you’re there for each other.”
Jean wears a colored diamond ring on her finger. She has a different color representing each child.
“Diamonds are forever,” she said.
And so is family.
“Families are families forever,” Moroni. “We’re a family and we look out for each other.”
This article first appeared in the June 4, 2015 edition of the Vermont Standard.