Agnes Jenson bio

Agnes Blakenship was born in Tacoma, Washington, on January 22, 1959. Her father, Henry, was a project manager for a defense contractor, and her mother, Myrtle, was a homemaker.

Agnes's parents had a wonderful relationship, and she told friends she had never heard them quarrel even once. She dreamed that one day she would marry someone like her father.

During her sophomore year in high school, Agnes fell for a senior and decided he was the one she would marry. She told everyone how happy they would be, just as her parents were.

One day, she caught the boy kissing another girl under the bleachers at a ball game. Agnes was heartbroken, and she gave up dating completely.

When Agnes was 22, she and her parents took a family vacation to the Bahamas. During that trip, she met Luther Jenson, and according to what Agnes told her friends later, the sun came out. She and Luther had a short courtship, married, and moved into a new home in Oxford, Mississippi.

On January 21, 1984, Agnes gave birth to a little girl they called Joy Elaine. Despite her name, Joy was never a happy child. She always caused problems and seemed to enjoy doing so.

As a teenager, Joy became pregnant and wanted an abortion. Agnes and Luther offered to raise the child, but she refused. After extended negotiations, Joy finally relented, and right after the baby was born, she left town, never to be heard from again.

Agnes never fully recovered from the loss of her daughter but pushed the pain aside and threw herself into raising her grandson. She named the baby Blake, a shortened form of Blakenship, an homage to her father.

As the boy grew up, he brought Agnes and Luther all the joy they'd wanted but never gotten from their daughter. Agnes didn't understand all of Blake's passions, like video games and tattoos, but she never let that come between them. She supported him and all his interests as long as they weren't dangerous.

Since Luther retired, he and Agnes have split their time between Yoknapatawpha County and a second home in Texas. Whenever they were away, they relied on Blake to look after their property in Oxford, and if he ever let them down, they didn't tell a soul.