This morning I saw the Facebook post I knew would come sooner or later. A friend of mine from about 16 years ago has passed, after a hard-fought battle with cancer. I am glad her daughter tagged her page in the announcement, so that the hundreds of us whose lives Julie enriched could know, rather than wondering why she hadn't posted in a while.
When we lived at the Fort Irwin army post in California, I went on my last productive weight loss journey, and part of that was joining a walking group. A year or so into that venture, the group changed leaders. The person who took over was Julie. She was relentlessly supportive, with an infectious smile. I took to her right away. When she suggested that we could add water aerobics to our group exercises, we all enthusiastically agreed. This was in the Mojave desert, after all, and exercising in water was way better than being in the blistering heat. I have never loved an exercise routine more than Julie-led water aerobics.
We left Fort Irwin in 2008, but Julie and I stayed in touch from time to time on Facebook. I followed her stories of her kids growing up, and starting families of their own. I saw her struggle with the end of her marriage, and starting a new career in a new place. And then I saw her announce that she had a very serious cancer. She stayed her own positive self through surgeries and chemo, but this was one of the big ones. (I'm pretty sure pancreatic) It was always going to win eventually.
I have debated with myself whether to steal the photo attached to the announcement. I remember her posting this series a year or so ago. She had gone to visit her kids, and they had portraits done of all of them on a beach. She had just gotten hair back after chemo, and it was in a flattering white pixie cut. There is so much beauty and power in this photo, I'm going to risk it to share, but I'm going to hide it below a picture of Saoirse so it isn't the thumbnail on Facebook. This blog has never been monetized, so hopefully I don't get in trouble for sharing it. I want you all to see how beautiful my friend was. Trust me, she was beautiful inside too.
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