Just Passing Through

Yesterday, Julie, my Mother In Law passed on through what we know on earth as 'life.'  She had a spark about her.  And a bit of cheekiness.  Those are qualities that I like a lot.  I also like the fact that her biggest gift to me was her son...my soul mate. 


Here's an example of her spunk.  On our recent trip to Tokyo (yes, two weeks before the catastrophe), we picked up a Hello Kitty stuffed animal for Julie.  When we presented Hello Kitty to her, she didn't quite understand that the name was based on the multi-billion dollar mega-brand "Hello Kitty".  She just thought her name was "Kitty".  Clearly, this was not up to snuff.  So Julie looked at the animal pensively and suddenly announced:


"I don't like the name "Kitty".  I shall call her .... (dramatic pause) ..... Elizabeth."


We giggled.  We loved it.  I don't even think that Julie realized that my middle name and that of my mom is Elizabeth.  And, I didn't know it until 2 minutes ago, but Julie's Grand-daughter Katy's middle name is also Elizabeth.  Good taste permeates our extended families, apparently.:

Someone related to Julie might be currently in possession of a "Hello Kitty"/Elizabeth laptop case and socks (and admittedly more items at home)

Julie's cat doodles

The Daffs are in bloom in honor of Julie

Rest in Peace, little Julie.

Finally, Eden of Eden's Eats wrote a very insightful  post about her experience of losing a parent inspired by the loss of Derek's mum.