At 1am on Thursday, July 31 my friend, Rebecca, passed away. She is survived by her husband, Dan, and her 3-year-old son, Jacob, and many other friends and family who loved her. If you want to read more about this wonderful friend of mine, please visit her blog at http://www.rebeccajunction.com/.
I am so overwhelmed with emotions right now, I do not even know how to begin to process what I am feeling. I am numb. I am in complete disbelief. How did this happen? How did I lose ANOTHER friend to cancer in the span of only one year? Why does this keep happening???
On the home page of her blog, Rebecca wrote about all the things she is grateful for. Toward the bottom, I was shocked to see that she mentioned me: "Julie is my fellow survivor (and Kellogg classmate) and has been a healer to me in many ways. Thank you Julie for your strength, input and support." I cried uncontrollably when I read this. I wish so badly that I had truly been able to "heal" Rebecca. I cried for the fact that I couldn't heal her and now she is gone. I cried for the fact that she has died of the same dreaded disease that tried to kill me. I cried for the fact that Rebecca was WAY too young to die and that her beautiful baby boy will never feel her loving arms squeeze him tight the way that I hug my own beautiful boys.
I don't even remember what I wrote to Rebecca these past 14 months that gave her strength; all I know is that every time I wrote, I made a point to reminded her that she was still very much alive and not to forget to embrace every single moment. I would remind her to not give up hope until her very last breath, and to fight like hell. Maybe my words of encouragement gave her enough strength to drag herself out of bed on "bad days" long enough to tuck her son into bed for the night. Maybe my words gave her enough strength to wake up in the morning long enough to kiss her husband before he left for work. Maybe my words of encouragement even gave her one more day or week or month of life than she would have had otherwise. Wouldn't that be great?!? I like to think that maybe my words helped Rebecca to stay on this Earth -- in the arms of her loved ones -- just a little bit longer. I hope upon hope that I was able to give her this gift.
Good-bye, Rebecca, you are greatly beloved and will be greatly missed.
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Julie's calendar
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How to use this calendar
When prompted, login:
USERNAME: Juliesfriends@yahoo.com
PASSWORD: goawaybitch
Once you are in:
>Choose the "Yes, add this calendar" option
>Look for open times on the schedule (if there is no one's name on an event, it's up for grabs!)
>Click on the green event box, then click on "Edit Event Details"
>Delete the words "Still Up for Grabs" and replace with your own name
PLEASE NOTE:
Please do not add additional dinner delivery dates to the calendar...just keep moving forward week-by-week until you find a date that no one has grabbed yet. The dates on the calendar were provided by Pete and Julie, who can only eat so much at a time! :)
How to use this calendar
When prompted, login:
USERNAME: Juliesfriends@yahoo.com
PASSWORD: goawaybitch
Once you are in:
>Choose the "Yes, add this calendar" option
>Look for open times on the schedule (if there is no one's name on an event, it's up for grabs!)
>Click on the green event box, then click on "Edit Event Details"
>Delete the words "Still Up for Grabs" and replace with your own name
PLEASE NOTE:
Please do not add additional dinner delivery dates to the calendar...just keep moving forward week-by-week until you find a date that no one has grabbed yet. The dates on the calendar were provided by Pete and Julie, who can only eat so much at a time! :)
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