{"id":309527,"date":"2026-05-10T23:04:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/309527\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T23:04:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:04:16","slug":"at-86-lantern-crest-resident-janet-walker-finds-joy-in-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/309527\/","title":{"rendered":"At 86, Lantern Crest resident Janet Walker finds joy in family"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Three<\/a>Janet Walker with her daughters dressed up for Easter at Lantern Crest. (Photo courtesy of Janet Walker)<\/p>\n

Janet Walker has lived a life stitched together by love of family, craft and a community that has come to feel like home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 86, the Lantern Crest Senior Living resident in Santee has more than enough reasons to celebrate Mother\u2019s Day: three daughters, eight grandchildren and a growing roster of great-grandchildren who keep her heart full.<\/p>\n

Walker has called Lantern Crest home for a total of eight years, first arriving with her late husband after they decided to settle into senior living together. When his dementia progressed they had to move because he required specialized care. After he passed, her daughters made the case for her return.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughters said I belonged at Lantern Crest, so I came back,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

She found comfort in familiar friendships and the added blessing of her sister, who also lived there at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Husband<\/a>Walker with her late husband. (Photo courtesy of Janet Walker)<\/p>\n

Born in Nebraska, Walker has called San Diego County home since age 10, settling eventually in Allied Gardens before moving to Big Bear when her husband retired, and eventually landing at Lantern Crest. Three of her daughters still live in San Diego, making get-togethers a regular occurrence.<\/p>\n

Walker\u2019s daughters have found their own way to bring joy to Lantern Crest and to their mother. For nearly five years, they have shown up to decorate her apartment entryway for every holiday and then descended on the community\u2019s happy hour in full costume. Santa\u2019s helpers at Christmas. Bees in the spring. Valentine\u2019s cupids in February. Easter eggs with bunny ears most recently. They dance with residents, hand out small gifts and have become something of an institution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made happy hour even happier,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>Janet\u2019s daughter dancing with her aunt at Lantern Crest. (Photo courtesy of Janet Walker)<\/p>\n

Over the decades Walker has crafted memory quilts for each of her grandchildren, many presented at their first communions when they were 8 years old. The quilts tell each child\u2019s story in fabric such as a baseball diamond for one grandson, a basketball court for another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith every ball bounce he grew up,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI joke around,\u201d Walker said of her baseball-playing grandchild. \u201cOne of these days he\u2019s going to be a Padre. That would be a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another grandson is now a doctor in the Navy. Walker does not hide her pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have some really good grandchildren,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Walker displayed her memory quilts in Lantern Crest\u2019s lobby during a community quilt show. Now she is passing the craft on, teaching fellow residents.<\/p>\n

Walker was a stay-at-home mother who served as a Girl Scout assistant leader and rarely missed a game or a milestone. She believes the lesson she passed on to her kids was simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBe good people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Walker knows exactly what she looks forward to most when her daughters come to visit. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust being with them and thinking they want me to be with them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When her two youngest daughters planned a trip to Ireland, Walker was certain they would prefer to go without her. They convinced her otherwise and it became one of her most cherished memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the best time ever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That attitude, Walker will tell you, is her philosophy on life in a nutshell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could all be complainers,\u201d she said, \u201cbut who knows when we\u2019re going to go. Might as well be happy until we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

And her daughters, with their costumes and their laughter, inherited that same joyful spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey amaze me,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Janet Walker with her daughters dressed up for Easter at Lantern Crest. (Photo courtesy of Janet Walker) Janet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[25539,111491,74,76,75,4891,386],"class_list":["post-309527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-allied-gardens","tag-mothers-day","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-santee","tag-seniors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}