Rose Jenkins bio

Rose Pinckney was born on September 14, 1942, and was the youngest of three children. Her father, John, was a farmer, and her mother, Mildred, took in laundry. Money was scarce, so they also rented out one room of their tiny home to anyone who needed a bed for the night and breakfast in the morning.

Everyone in the family, no matter how young, was expected to do their part. When John built a chicken coop in the backyard and bartered to get them six hens and one rooster, it became Rose's job to collect the eggs each morning. Her older sister, Ruth, fed the chickens, and her older brother, Johnny, kept the coop clean.

Mildred planted tomatoes, green beans, and potatoes, John planted rows of corn, and the kids helped tend the garden. The money from selling the eggs and vegetables helped the family buy the things they couldn't make or grow themselves.

The kids worked hard at their tiny farm, and each Christmas, Santa rewarded them with a small treat like hard candy or a hair ribbon.

When Rose was nine years old, she was gathering eggs early one morning when one of their renters approached her at the coop. He offered her a butterscotch candy to help him find his watch, which he said he lost near the edge of the yard. 

When they got to the tree line, he put his hand over her mouth and carried her into the woods. Before he could complete his assault, Rose felt a small twig with her scrambling hand. She jammed it into his eye and fled, screaming.

John was in the cornfield when he heard her screams and then saw her running out of the trees, nearly naked. He ran to her and covered her with his shirt as she told him what happened. John and Johnny headed for the forest.

Father and son returned home in time for breakfast. Rose ate in her parents' bedroom because she was afraid the renter would return for the morning meal he'd paid for. But the renter was never seen nor heard from again, and the Pinkneys stopped renting out the room.

Rose married Daniel Jenkins in 1962, and they had a daughter, Margery, in 1973.

When Daniel passed away in 2023, friends and neighbors noticed Rose was becoming more forgetful. At first, they attributed it to grief and aging, but when she was found wandering in the woods near her home, Margery realized it was something more serious.

Shortly after that, Rose moved into the Yoknapatawpha Acres nursing home, where she has since been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.