Archive for July 2018

Was Julia Right?

No Comments »

My friend Julia wrote a book, and in it, she shared her truth.

The book made me laugh, it made me cry, and it allowed me know my dear friend in a way that I would never had known her if I did not read it.

She was raw and real in it.

I brought the book with me to the National Down Syndrome Congress to sell.
(100% of the profits go back to Julia and her family.)

Sharing her book with others got me thinking so much about conversations that Julia and I had.

What I loved about Julia is this, even though she and I had completely opposite reactions to our children's diagnosis, she loved me fiercely. And let me know it.

And I loved her as well! I was so excited to have a friend in my life that got me!

We talked about each of our journey's for hours.

Anyone who knows Julia knows that every aspect of life became part of her schtick!
(Did I spell that right?)

And her reaction to her son's diagnosis was no different. It is almost impossible to explain. But she wanted people comfortable even in the hard stuff.

After she wrote her truth, she used humor to talk about her reaction, the book, her journey.  I never left her without laughing.

I loved how she made everyone so at ease with her humor.

The world is missing out on a lot of joy since Julia died.

But her book tells her heart.

As I stood at my Dreamers table in Dallas, parents asked me about her book.

I told them it is funny, raw, and honest.

She makes us all search our own souls as she calls herself out and challenges others to do the same.

In the back of the book she apologizes to her audience.

I have never seen an author do that.

She is keenly aware that in making an observation about herself, she may inadvertently hurt someone else.

And she does not want that.

Nor do I.

So I brought up Julia's point about prejudice on my page.

The reactions have actually been very beautiful.

Each reaction true to each of the individuals who wrote them, just like mine was true to me, and Julia's was true to her.

The day that Julia collapsed from cardiac arrest we had been on the phone and texting.

A lot.

Julia and I had conversations like teens do on the phone. I will freely admit that.
And our texts were the same. lol

On that day we were celebrating.

She was going to be going out and speaking about her book.

About her truth.

She was scared but super excited.

She called me to talk about it.

Little did I know that this would be the very last conversation we would ever have.

I assured her she would be fine. That she would do beautifully!

And I made her a promise.

Quite literally only a short time before she said her last words to anyone, I made her a promise.

I told her, "Everywhere Dreamers goes, The Book about James will go too."

And I fully intend to keep that promise.

Her book was the first thing I packed when I got ready to go to the convention.

When I was at the convention, and I shared it with others, I could hardly share it without crying.

I actually did cry each time.

Julia died from her cardiac arrest on October 30th, 2016.

The day she collapsed I had earlier celebrated with my dear friend. I heard her last words to me, and without knowing it was the last thing I would say to her, I told her I loved her and how proud I was of her.

That day I lost my rock. I lost my dear friend.

But she is still with me.

I realized this when I was speaking this weekend about her book.

I know it for a fact, when I wrote on Facebook her belief that she had a realization that she felt she had a prejudice when her son was born, I know she was in that conversation too.

Thank you to all of you who have kept it so respectful.

I know this would make Julia very proud.

It would also cause her to call me and have some punch line about it. I am not sure exactly what part she would turn into a joke. But she would.

And we would laugh, talk, and love each other through the chaos of social media conversations.

And we would celebrate that one more conversation was done well, and our children will benefit from that.

I miss you Julia. I always will.

Thank you for being "that" Down syndrome mama in my life!

You know the one, the one that gets my heart!

To Julia!
With love, Diane


If you would like to purchase Julia's book, email me at dreamersmerchants@gmail.com. It is $15.00 and 100% of the profit goes to Julia and her family!