Comments on Maya's Granny: Final Post

What would you have written for your 67th birthday...

2009-04-23T05:01:00.000-08:00

What would you have written for your 67th birthday?

This is beautiful, Julie. So glad to know a bit o...

2009-04-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

This is beautiful, Julie. So glad to know a bit of your mom. xo, Judy

Julie, I was reading an old blog entry of mine and...

2009-01-18T12:17:00.000-09:00

Julie, I was reading an old blog entry of mine and one of the commenters was Maya. I held my breath and came back here on a memory trip. I am glad this blod is still up!

This is a amazing and great post written by a daug...

2008-12-15T15:28:00.000-09:00

This is a amazing and great post written by a daughter hurt by her mother's death....I feel it, i too lost my mom.

What an inspiring post. It will be a great record ...

2008-11-21T10:29:00.000-09:00

What an inspiring post. It will be a great record for Maya.

I've paid tribute a couple of time to my parents on my blog as well. Acknowledgement means everything.

Joy, I hope you were watching this election. I th...

2008-11-06T05:57:00.000-09:00

Joy, I hope you were watching this election. I think we didn't screw this up.

Wow--what a powerful blog. . . and this post. . .w...

2008-09-21T07:02:00.000-08:00

Wow--what a powerful blog. . . and this post. . .well it brought tears to my eyes.

This Is Just to Say I have eatenthe plumsthat were...

2008-09-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

　

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

　

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

-----------bymaple story account

Though I barely knew her, I am saddened by the los...

2008-08-11T22:39:00.000-08:00

Though I barely knew her, I am saddened by the loss of such a brilliant, loving, and passionate person. Blessings to you where ever you are right now, Maya's Granny, Jocelyn. May peace and a new bright day find all those who loved you.

It is no comfort that we all must share in the fate of losing those we love here on earth...and it is small comfort that they live on through their earthly deeds and in our minds and hearts.

No matter how they leave us, we always wonder if we could have done something differently to change the past...but we find our regretful mental reworkings will, sadly, not bring them back to us here.

Strange it is, but to acknowledge the pain that will never leave us somehow provides a truthful starting point. Courage, for tomorrow is a new day. Celebrate your mother and her life. Share remembrances with laughter through tears.

I wish you strength and hope that you find comfort in the words we all trade here and in the memory of your beloved mother.

~we are all made of star stuff~

Just wanted to say I bookmarked your Mom's blog a ...

2008-07-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say I bookmarked your Mom's blog a while ago having read her wonderful piece on Choice.I'll be keeping this blog in my favourites. It,and your Mom, were inspirational.

Julie. I'm sorry for the belated posting. I've not...

2008-07-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

Julie. I'm sorry for the belated posting. I've not been reading much for the last few weeks and just this morning learned of your Mom's passing. I wanted to stop and tell you how touched I was to read this post.

I've truely enjoyed reading your mother's blog over the last year or so. Her dedication to her writing was inspiring to me.

May God continue to bless you and keep you in the way that only he can.

Moe Lauher

Thank you, Julie for sharing all this with us. We...

2008-07-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Julie for sharing all this with us. We really do share your loss.

I'm so sorry. Your mom was so young to go. I'm ha...

2008-06-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

I'm so sorry. Your mom was so young to go. I'm happy she has this record to leave behind. In the back of our minds, that's why some of us blog.

Reading this I was reminded of my dad's death three years ago, all the what ifs. In the end it was his way out of this world and in some way the process he needed, I think.

I loved the way you posted openly and honestly in ...

2008-06-26T00:22:00.000-08:00

I loved the way you posted openly and honestly in your greif, you've done that well and in honour there Lady... you do honour very well that way. What we should all have daughters like that eh.

Spent a bit of time out the back yard leaning on the fence thinking about what I'd just read, the writing actually followed me out there and the feeling was... grieve the grief of deep love that only a Mother's passing can give, it'll get better, if that's the right word.. as time goes by the small touches of her, here and there, will surface, but you will find that she didn't raise a fool, she raised a beautiful child, who now a Woman, is a right good one to stand by her staid.

I am sorry and saddened, yes, she was open and honest and won't quit being that way, ever...

it's going to live on in you and the kids... right good way to be, even on this travel..

that lady, she's got some good kids alright, ya she does..

Sincerely and with Respect

Sky

This is Michael, Julie's dad. I'm not a regular bl...

2008-06-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

This is Michael, Julie's dad. I'm not a regular blogger, usually I e-mail Julie directly but I wanted to say a few things to MG's friends.

Julie and Richard were heroic in what they did for their mom. Dropped their lives and rushed to her, spent their own money to move and care for her, took the utmost care to do what was best for her. And with her gone it's natural for them to think it wasn't enough, to do "if onlys". But what she really needed these months was love, and she got it in spades, and she knew it. I can’t tell them not to feel what they feel, but at the same time they can know that they did what was really important.

The other hero was her friend Kate, who accumulated so much good karma the last couple of months that she can probably slack off from now on and still hit sainthood.

I knew Joyce for going on 50 years, although for much of that time we were out of contact. She was a great spirit. I think she had two modes -- joyous/cheerful (most of the time) or outraged. The more neutral depression of the last few months was uncharacteristic and a symptom of how sick she really was. Julie’s dream got it exactly right, her health wasn’t going to let her be the person she wanted to be, and that she was inside.

There was a gathering at Joyce’s mothers on Saturday. Our friend Robert Crawford from high school in Modesto was there. They were best friends in our little crew of Modesto outcasts, and continued in Berkeley. And another gathering at Julie & Ted's on Sunday with my wife and other daughters, Julie’s sisters, and Ted’s family. Joyce would have loved those parties (maybe did, who knows?) She would have loved the Puja (Hindu ceremony) Ted’s mother did for her the week before, because she loved real things. She would have never let her professed atheism keep her from having a good time.

Many cultures believe that a soul hangs around for a while before moving on, who’s to say a blog isn’t a good vantage point for this? Goodbye Joyce, wherever you are.

How wonderful to know that Joycelyn was well and t...

2008-06-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

How wonderful to know that Joycelyn was well and truly loved. Thank you for a perfect last post.

I hope you leave your mom's blog up and don't take...

2008-06-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

I hope you leave your mom's blog up and don't take down any part of it. She told some wonderful stories and it will be found for years to come by those looking for something and finding it here. Blogs are amazing that way. If you someday deleted it, someone else might get the name and that would be a shame. Your mom created a body of work that I hope can remain as long as it's possible.

Your questions are logical and although my mother died 11 years ago, I still ask myself could I or should I have done this or that. It's normal human wondering. To me you did the best you could and that's all your mom could or would have asked.

That was anyhting but a crappy last post. It was h...

2008-06-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

That was anyhting but a crappy last post. It was honest and true and ... and wonderful. I think there are often what ifs in dealing with our parents etc in their end times. I still get quite exercised over how my dad was dealt with. But when all is said and done, we're talking about a very short time at the end of a long life.

I'm so sorry. RIP MG. and this is a beautiful tr...

2008-06-23T05:13:00.000-08:00

I'm so sorry. RIP MG. and this is a beautiful tribute to her.

Dear Julie,Thank you for this honest post. I'm so ...

2008-06-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

Dear Julie,

Thank you for this honest post. I'm so sorry your heart is broken. It is totally understandable...she was your mother. I wish I could help ease your pain. I'm here for you, if you want to talk.

Sending you lots of love and a big hug,

Tracy

Julie - we share your grief - thank you for keepin...

2008-06-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

Julie - we share your grief - thank you for keeping the blog online - I want to return to read her posts again. Your post is from your heart - please be gentle with yourself - each of us leaves when it is time. Love across the miles between.

Don't second guess. I did that when my mom died a ...

2008-06-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

Don't second guess. I did that when my mom died a bit, too, because you just do, but -- it happens the way it happens, and it can't be changed. That's how life and death are.

We all go on from here, with our losses, with our heartbreak, and we somehow keep going. It's what makes us human, because we are all the same, every one of us, and all in this together -- but we all leave alone. Knowing that when we do, those who love and cherish us will let us live on within them -- for a while.

Remember the good stuff.

Namaste...

JIt's raining and thundering and lightning here in...

2008-06-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

J
It's raining and thundering and lightning here in coastal NC.
My face is soaking wet and I haven't even been outside?

This is a very beautiful, truthful and honest post. I agree with all your wonderful readers, and hope you will keep this blog going (frozen in time just like it is) for years to come.

And don't worry about being an atheist. If there is a god......he will surely forgive us!

I have lost enough people close to me including bo...

2008-06-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

I have lost enough people close to me including both my parents that I think I understand this questioning that we go through. If only... and what if?? There are no answers and it is part of the healing process.

If you have time and money you should probably print as much of this blog as you can or save it to disk for Maya and others. It will be important in the future.

Pardon a second comment, but I wanted to add that ...

2008-06-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

Pardon a second comment, but I wanted to add that I'm an atheist, too, and I'm positive your mother is at peace. I don't believe in God or heaven, but I talk to my grandmother in heaven all the time, and she answers me back. That precious person is gone, but I'm positive the love is forever, and that she lives, in a different way, in our hearts, for always.