Wichita

Wichita was a stop in Nancy Jaax and Jerry Jaax’s Thanksgiving journey to Kansas in November 1989, bringing together family grief, illness, and practical care. They arrived on Thanksgiving Day after driving through the night with their children, shared a meal with Nancy’s father, and remained in the area for several days to help him get to cancer treatments.

Place in the Journey

On Wednesday, November 22, Nancy and Jerry put their children in the family van and drove straight through the night to Kansas. The children, Jaime and Jason, slept during the long drive; Nancy and Jerry traded places at the wheel. Jerry had struggled to sleep since his brother’s murder, and Nancy stayed awake with him on the road.

They reached Wichita on Thanksgiving Day. After the meal there, they drove out to Andale, Kansas, northwest of Wichita, for another family dinner. Following a few days in Wichita, where they helped Nancy’s father get to the hospital for cancer treatments, they drove back to Maryland with the children.

Thanksgiving with Nancy’s Family

In Wichita, the Jaaxes ate turkey with Nancy’s father, Curtis Dunn, who was living with Nancy’s brother. Dunn was seriously ill with cancer, and the family’s holiday visit took place alongside the need to help him reach treatment. His sympathy for Jerry’s loss did not make it easier for Jerry to talk about the murder.

The account presents Nancy’s feelings toward her father as mixed: she pitied him in his illness but also felt a distance she could not overcome. His talk of selling the family farm to seek a cure in Mexico using peach pits angered her. Wichita is therefore not simply a holiday destination in the episode; it is where family obligation and unresolved tension meet.

Family Grief and Narrative Significance

The trip continued from Wichita to the home of Jerry’s mother, Ada, in Andale. There, stories about the old days on the farm repeatedly gave way to silence when Jerry’s murdered brother, John, was mentioned. Ada, usually a strong presence to her children, sometimes left the room when she could not stop crying. The gathering’s pauses and returns to John’s name place the Jaaxes’ private mourning beside Nancy’s father’s illness.

Wichita’s role in the narrative is grounded in this brief, practical visit: it is where the Jaaxes shared Thanksgiving with Nancy’s father and helped him get to treatment before returning east. The holiday’s family meals do not resolve either illness or grief; instead, the journey makes visible the care the couple tries to provide while carrying their own bereavement.