Plant a tree in memory of Jayna
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2 tree(s) planted in memory of Jayna Whitbeck
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Lori Proudman Knoebel lit a candle
Thursday, January 23, 2025
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Joe Parslow uploaded photo(s)
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
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You were my first friend. Was I yours?
You were born seven months after me. To the day. Our mothers were pregnant with us at the same time and our families lived maybe 300 feet apart in the countryside just north of the Catskills.
I remember holding hands with you outside, our older sisters nearby. Piles of fallen leaves. Weekend dance parties in the living room. Forts made of blankets and couch cushions.
My family moved away. We lost touch for two decades, then barely regained it. What if I had stayed? What if we shared elementary school as friends and neighbors? Grade school? High school? Would I be different than I am now? Would you? What difference would my absence from Florida have made for the lives impacted by my presence there? Are these ruminations valuable at all?
All my life I have missed that childhood you were so present in. I did not miss it solely because of you — our relationship was always the simple and innocent friendship of young children — but you were nevertheless a large part of it. We were so young we still lived directly, oblivious to the world’s harms, far and near though they were.
My departure from that life allowed me to romanticize it. Idealize it, even. So much of my adolescence was defined by a nostalgia informed from my inner child’s misconceptions. What were you doing then, entrenched in that world I remembered poorly or misremembered entirely? Many, many times, I imagined a different life from the one I found myself in, one in which I’d stayed at the place I still called home. In that imagined life I spent a lot of time outdoors with friends. Is that what you did? Making trouble by the creek. Petty misdemeanors. Impromptu rescues. Is that what you did? Boredom and malaise. I even imagined yearning for escape. The camaraderie of shared misfortune. Where were you, Jayna? Is that what you did?
I know almost nothing of your life outside our first years together. You were meaningful to me regardless, and real throughout my life. You are real and meaningful to me still. You will always have been my first friend, and a very small part of your impact on the world is how our friendship shaped my early life and social inclinations. Would I have grieved so intensely for my old life had there not been such a friend that I lost with it? I can recall no other friend by name from those years. Absent the intensity of that grief, would I have developed as visceral a connection with and compassion for the natural world I associated with that life, which I hold as central to my character still? Now that I am a father to a daughter who is the age we were when we knew each other, would not my appreciation for an honest and healthy and meaningful childhood friend, and therefore childhood, and therefore life, be different for her had it not been for you? Whatever other influences there were and are. However many or strong. Whatever complexities arose thereafter. Your place is secure in the history of many good things.
I grieve for that little girl. There is a little boy far away in me who dearly misses his friend. I know it might be judged a luxury to indulge such grief after such distance, but today I cried for you and it felt right to share the remembrance.
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Kristen & Joe Parslow planted a tree in memory of Jayna Whitbeck
Monday, January 20, 2025
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We send you thoughts of comfort. Join in honoring their life - plant a memorial tree
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Rita Spiritelli lit a candle
Saturday, January 18, 2025
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Rita Spiritelli posted a condolence
Saturday, January 18, 2025
RIP My Deepest sympathies to the family.
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Bill & Jeannette posted a condolence
Friday, January 17, 2025
Dear Jon and Kathy, Our deepest condolences to you and your family in the loss of your daughter. With heartfelt sympathy, Jeannette & Bill
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Jade Roe lit a candle
Friday, January 17, 2025
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Oh Jayna... may you forever be happy whole and healthy just the way I remember you from high-school. Rest in peace girl friend! ❤️
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Sandra and Dustin lit a candle
Friday, January 17, 2025
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Rest in Peace Jayna you will forever be remembered. Your friends Dustin and Sandra
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Clara and Lloyd Potter posted a condolence
Thursday, January 16, 2025
RIP Jayna. Our sympathies to the family. Love, Clara and Lloyd Potter
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Bridgette Whitbeck uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, January 16, 2025
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Bridgette Whitbeck posted a condolence
Thursday, January 16, 2025
I will miss my niece very much. She reminded me of myself when I was very young. Although she ended up in the city, she was a country girl through and through. Sometimes our paths take a roundabout way, and you just get lost. If you find someone that is lost and in the dark, try to light their path.
Bridgette Whitbeck
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Jodi Wood lit a candle
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
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So sorry for your loss. Jayna was such a special loving soul.
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Kim Winans lit a candle
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
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Karen Bell-Winans lit a candle
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
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Please except my sincerest condolences. Prayers, hugs and love.
Sincerely
Karen Bell-Winans
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Rita Spiritelli lit a candle
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
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So very sorry for our loss, sending prayers
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Phyllis Rivenburg Fitzgerald lit a candle
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
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Marion Cooke lit a candle
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
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Amanda Grandy lit a candle
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
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Jayna, you were a funny and beautiful woman. I have many fond memories with my cousin growing up. Addiction is a terrible and powerful disease that leads many great people down dark paths. Some are not able to recover and succumb to the addiction. Sadly, you passed away. You will be remembered as someone who was very loved. Rest easy cousin.
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Janet and Erik posted a symbolic gesture
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
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We are so sorry for your loss. Addition is a terrible disease. E pray that you rest in peace Jayna.
A Memorial Tree was planted for Jayna Whitbeck
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
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We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at A.J. Cunningham Funeral Home - Greenville Join in honoring their life - plant a memorial tree
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About Us
Our family owned funeral home has been serving Southern Albany County & Northern Greene County for over 125 years.
Greenville
A J Cunningham Funeral Home - Greenville
4898 New York 81
Greenville, NY
12083
Phone (518) 966-8313
Fax (518) 966-4118
Ravena
A J Cunningham Funeral Home - Ravena
9 Main Street
Ravena, NY
12143
Tel: (518) 756-3313
Fax: (518) 966-4118
News & Events
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