My name is Janie Rezner I also write and paint under the Indian name OQUAWKA I am a mother and a daughter and a grandmother The words I bring to you have emerged as I travel a most profound spiritual journey	Mendocino, California 2001
When my truth sprang forth in 1984 there was no Gaia Bookstore other than Mary, there were no images of the feminine as sacred In my world the word Goddess was unheard of and yet, SHE emerged strong and clear, singing from her heart speaking truth	The Moors of England, 1990
I am a pianist, a body worker, a gardener, a painter of houses and a cleaner of houses, a former realtor, a serious artist, a runner, the maker of mystical sounding clay instruments, and, as I said, the grandmother of four lovely grandchildren.	Grandson Caleb and Me
"warm breeze blows through HEART STREAMINGS flood the body celebration of NEW LIFE dances through me JOYOUSLY" Oquawka	My Grandchildren Joey and Simone
this Indian word means YELLOW BANKS and is the name of the little Illinois town nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River where my mother and HER mother before her grew up
and in the little cemetery there on the east side of town I found the graves of my grandmother's mother and father I also found the graves of my grandfather's mother and father of course my grandparents, Eva and Samuel, are buried there along with their brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins. . .and neighbors and FRIENDS my mother, Zelda, is buried next to my dad in the Kirkwood cemetery close to a big shade tree I think most of the Rezner family is there and the rest of the dinner bridge club is nearby that's quite a heritage, isn't it? in this day and age of lost roots. Grandson Benjamin and Me
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Background I have sung all my life, having been blessed with a most musical mother who had a beautiful low voice, who hummed and sang around the house as she worked and as she played the piano. Singing came as naturally as breathing!	1940

Zelda at age 68

My mother, Zelda, was born in 1893, and grew up in the little Illinois town of Oquawka, nestled against the banks of the Mississippi. She was the youngest of three girls, and as children they sang as a trio, a cappella, all around town.

I grew up on the outskirts of Biggsville, population 200, where my dad, Jay, farmed 160 acres on the same land that his father and his father before him had farmed. As a child I lived close to the earth, and I was intimately connected to music as well.

With "Tippy" in 1938

With my brother, home from Annapolis, MD

Everything was small back then; there were nineteen in my high school graduating class, and eighty students in the whole school. It made for a life of continuity. We all knew each other. There are some of those aspects here in this little community of Mendocino, which I appreciate very much!

I sang in a trio we called The Harmonettes in high school. My mother was our arranger. We performed all over the area. We sang for weddings and funerals and our own graduation; we sang on local radio; we sang for Adlai Stevenson when he came through. In fact, we went to Chicago and sang on the Morris B. Sack's Amateur Hour, and won $75.00 and a gold watch!

Davenport, Iowa

This was in 1950, the time of the Chordettes. We had a wonderful blend, and were quite good. We were invited to go on to the big time doing a circuit of State Fairs, and also singing at a benefit for Hines Veteran Hospital in northern Chicago. One of the trio, Barbara, was also living on a farm and was raising a calf for 4-H. She didn't want to leave it! So, that was that. It all came to an end at graduation time. I went on to major in music at Monmouth College, in Illinois, married and raised my three children in Iowa, singing all the while at churches, music clubs, and community events. I even sang on local TV, back in Davenport, Iowa. My OWN music, however, came forth just eighteen years ago at age fifty. I also play the piano and guitar, and I willingly sing at the drop of a hat!

Bolinas, CA in 1993

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