Dedication
Phoenix Dedicate Coast to Coast 2009,
to a much missed friend, Julia. x
Way back in early 2008, I had an idea to do a sponsored walk for The Mercury Phoenix Trust. It would have gotten nowhere without firstly, the rest of the team, and everyone who has helped us along the way, but even before that, there was someone who offered inspiration which has stayed with me, with us, all the way, and will continue to do so always.
I only knew her for a short few months, and not very well. I didn’t even know her second name, but what I knew of her, ‘Jules‘, I grew to love. I ‘met’ her on a forum in 2007, a chance disagreement leading us to exchanging the occasional message. She was quiet, but friendly and smart, so though we spoke little to begin with I liked her from the start.
Nearing the end of 2007, Julia was involved in a car accident. Her foot was badly damaged and had to be amputated. It was literally days after her surgery, that I received a message from her. The very first person to wish us luck in our venture, was Julia. To this day I don’t know where she found the strength. She was just beginning the recovery process of a life altering accident, and yet found the time not just to think of us, but to let us know we had support.
Jules had amazed me with her bravery, so I tried to keep up with her whenever she could get online. She was always upbeat about her recovery, and further astounded all of her friends by remaining more interested in what everyone else was doing. Sadly, there was more bad news to come. Before leaving hospital after her operation, Jules was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Julia was a talented photographer, she’d posted some of her pictures of flowers and butterflies (which she loved!) in the weeks before her diagnosis. The first time she used her wheelchair, her comment to us was something I will never forget; “I can see the flowers better from here.”
We continued to exchange messages whenever Julia was well enough, Jules again astonishing me with her interest in my school projects, and how plans for the walk were going. I told her one day, what everyone who spoke to her must have thought; that she was just amazing, and she seemed to have no idea why. Danielle also sent her a message, touched by her story, to which she replied both to Danielle and to tell me about it! All the while she was struggling through various manifestations of her illness, and yet for the times she was around, she could talk and chatter and post her gorgeous photographs like she didn’t have a care in the world. Or like she believed everyone else’s to be infinitely more important.
In all that time she continued to inquire as to how we were getting on with the walk, offering unwavering encouragement and support for months on end, despite everything else going on in her life.
Julia died on August 3rd, 2008, aged 29.
It seemed so unfair someone so kind and thoughtful, so full of life, should have been dealt a hand like hers. But Jules never thought like that. She told us she never thought ’why me?’, believing she could just as well ask the question, ’why not me?’. It seems only right then, that her short life should be remembered for it’s overwhelming positivism and light.
I don’t know how she did it, but in the ten or so months I knew Jules I was blown away by her strength, her generosity, her warmth, her kindness, her quiet, unassuming wisdom, and her incredible spirit. She was a ray of sunshine to me and to so many others. Were it not for her determination, the inspiration she gave me, I, we, would most likely have given up by now. When something seems too difficult now, I just think of Jules, and know anything is possible.
I hope wherever she is now, she knows she lit up a lot of lives, and she is sadly missed.
She will always be my inspiration. Our very first, inspiration.
Julia, our beloved ‘Crown Jules’, this one’s for you.
Love, Siobhan & Phoenix
x X x