Everyone has been talking about Julie Yip-Williams recently. Her memoir, The Unwinding of the Miracle, was released on February 6th and Julie is everywhere in the news. Julie’s story is one of triumph over adversity, success, happiness and ultimately, tragedy.
Many people followed Julie’s story of her battle with terminal cancer. I’ve been thinking about her a lot this week and I’ve been grieving for Julie, her family and friends. I’ve also been amazed by Julie’s courage to share her experience. Julie passed away in March of last year, leaving behind her young daughters, Isabelle and Mia, and her husband Josh.
Cup of Jo republished Julie’s open letter to her daughters. I saw it one morning before work and I knew that I couldn’t read that letter without falling apart. I saved it to read later.
Driving home from work that night, I heard a recording on All Things Considered that Eleanor Kagan did with Julie. Julie had invited Kagan to record the final months of her (Julie’s) life. You can listen to the All Things Considered article here.
I found this New York Times book review of Julie’s book: A Dying Young Woman Reminds Us of How to Live. It’s a great review.
Julie was born in Vietnam, the daughter of Chinese parents. She was born blind. When her family moved to the U.S., Julie had surgery that gave her partial vision. She couldn’t drive and needed a magnifying glass to read small print, but that didn’t stop her from graduating from Williams College and Harvard Law School. She married and had two daughters. Then she was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. She began writing her blog and sharing her story.
With the knowledge that her life was coming to an end, Julie was passionate about everything. From relishing every moment she had with her family to the experience of dying, Julie fully immersed herself in the experience and shared it with others.
Julie wrote about “railing, threatening and ranting” to her husband about his potential second wife. In her letter to him, Julie explained that she wanted him to heal from her death and make himself whole before he met someone else, and Julie admitted that that someone, “might even be someone I would have liked.”
Julie advised her daughters that, “… there is incredible value in pain and suffering. If you allow yourself to experience it, to cry, to feel sorrow and grief, to hurt. Walk through the fire and you will emerge on the other end, whole and stronger. I promise.”
I’ve thought about Julie a lot this weekend. I’ve talked about her with my husband. I’ve cried when I’ve read her words. I’m tearing up as I write about her now.
One of the important things about Julie’s story is that she makes us take a break from the mundane, to pause and take stock of our good lives. We acutely notice the warmth of the sunlight streaming through a window. A woodpecker’s peck-peck-peck resonating on a tree in the backyard. Our partner breathing in the bed next to us. The sound of our child’s voice. We become aware of our incredible, wonderful luck to have all of these experiences right now. Our gratitude is magnified by our grief over Julie’s loss of these moments.
Julie reminded me this week to be grateful for my good fortune. And I resolve to experience every minute of joy that comes my way.
Thank you Julie.
More Information
You can find Julie Yip-Williams blog is here.
Julie’s open letters to her husband, Josh, and her daughters, Mia and Isabelle, are on her blog. Josh’s wonderful obituary for Julie is also on the blog.
Here is a link to Julie’s book, The Unwinding of the Miracle
Related Posts
Julie died the week after my brother-in-law, Tony, suddenly died from a heart attack last year. I wrote about Tony’s passing in this post.
Thinking of appreciating the good things in my life, here are a couple of posts on that subject: