Ashley Joiner and Georges Jerome rebuild life after death of 3-year-old | Season for Caring

On an overcast afternoon, the Jerome children run from the kitchen to the living room and back in their East Austin apartment.

Marielle, 6, runs up to where her mother, Ashley Joiner, 30, sits on the couch. When her daughter asks for a lollipop, Joiner checks the time, making sure it’s not too late in the day and said, “OK, baby.”

A moment later, Geyarian, 7 runs up to his mother asking her to fix his game controller.

“In a minute, baby,” Joiner said.

As Joiner’s husband, Georges Jerome, 39, prepares to leave for his second job working at KFC, the children decide it’s time for Popsicles.

For Joiner, her seven children are her life.

“I love being a mother,” Joiner said. “Everybody asks me, ‘Ashley, you have all these kids. How do you do it?’”

She smiled. “I just take it day by day,” she said.

Joiner and her husband have worked hard over the last year to get their children back.

In March 2022, the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Javaeha, died abruptly of acute pneumonia. Javaeha had long been ill after being born not breathing and diagnosed with brain damage from a lack of oxygen. She required Joiner’s constant attention. When the child was born, Joiner gave up working as a certified nursing assistant to care for her.

“When I had her, they gave her one night to live,” Joiner said.

However, because their child died at home, the state removed their other seven children from their home during the investigation, and the family had to undergo extensive training and counseling before they could be reunited, Joiner said.

Joiner could only see them for an hour a week during a supervised visit.

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The state returned the girls in December, but it didn’t release the boys to their parents until May.

“I had to do couples counseling, family therapy, individual therapy, parenting classes,” Joiner said. “Every time I finish, ‘Ashley, you got to do this.’”

Their case with Child Protective Services has been dismissed.

The family really didn’t have time to grieve for Javaeha, Joiner said. The day before the state removed the children, the family had been planning a celebration to remember the girl, she said.

Now that they’re together, the family is getting reacquainted with one another.

“They all came back different,” Joiner said. “I have to get them back on the track that they were on.”

Some of the children are in speech therapy. Her oldest son has faced bullying at school and doesn’t always want to stay in class, she said. The school often asks Joiner to come sit in his class with him to help manage his behavior challenges, a disruption to the schedules of Joiner and Georges Jerome.

No matter how overwhelming it gets, Joiner doesn’t let her children see.

“I just try to put the ‘mommy hat’ on and pretend like everything is OK. In the back of my head, I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?’”

Now, the family hopes the holidays will bring a new start for them.

“My wish is just to have a nice family dinner,” Joiner said. “A new beginning. Last year was just so hectic we didn’t get to celebrate the way we wanted. I’d like a new start.”

Since they didn’t get to have a celebration of life last year for Javaeha, they hope to do that this year and spend the holiday season all together.

The Jerome family's wishes:

A bigger place to live; help with rent and bills; medical system navigation; medical items and supplies; a medical head-shaping helmet; a family-size vehicle; H-E-B and Walmart gift cards; gift cards for clothing stores; diapers size 3, Pull-ups size 3T/4T; diaper wipes; bunk beds; queen bed; laptop for school work; refrigerator; spa day or spa supplies for Ashley; six twin-size bed sheets and comforters; queen-sized sheets and comforter; baby gate; 35-pound weighted vest for a child; weighted blankets for a child and for an adult; bath towels; potty-training potty; clothes for girls sizes 12/13, 7/8, 3T, 6 months and 9 months, large, small and medium; boys sizes 7/8, 4T and 2T, small and medium; girls shoe sizes 8, 4, 6 and booties; boys shoe sizes 5, 8 and 4; weighted pillows and toys; sensory toys; regular toys; books; arts and crafts supplies; a mini fold-and-go trampoline; and a walker for a toddler.

Their wish list is available on Amazon.

Nominated by: Any Baby Can, 6207 Sheridan Ave., Austin, TX 78723. 512-276-8199, anybabycan.org.

Its mission: Any Baby Can partners with families to build stability, develop skills and unlock each child’s full potential.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Season for Caring: Austin family rebuilds life after death of daughter