HAPPY AUTUMN - A WEE LITTLE MIRACLE HAPPENED TODAY....

I call it a 'wee' miracle, because I imagine most people think miracles come in 'sizes' (as I do). A big miracle would be if suddenly all wars and conflict ended, and love 'invaded' everyone! That is a very very big 'miracle' in my mind.

This wee one came in the form of a post from Brenda, the sister of Julie who died in April of this year. My mom was so taken by the story published in the Kalamazoo Gazette, she sent it to me and asked I put it on her web-page. I received the letter and article on April 29, 2008 - the day my nephew (Mike) turned 39. It was also April 29, 2002, that I nearly died in a car accident, so this was my 6th anniversary of surviving that terrible event that took 5 years to fully recover from.

Then because Brenda took the time to comment, I was able to locate her web-page and found a very charming site where she talks about life; her six children - shows off her beautiful hand-made rugs, and that's where I looked for some type of tribute she might have made to her sister.

Here is Brenda's 'open letter' and post to Julie, it is very loving and warm:

Julie Ann Elizabeth Moulds Rybicki - December 28, 1962 - April 8, 2008
Originally uploaded by bbmarie.

My sister died today. I was with her for 4 days of her last 6. She has been fighting Non-Hodgkins lymphoma for 16 years. But it was the Graft vs. Host disease that killed her.

She was strong and brave and beautiful and so full of love. There is not a person who knew her that didn't love her. She was a poet that married a poet. They adopted a 12 year old boy from inner city Detroit 6 years ago. God Bless John and Martel as they grieve their wife and Mother. Julie you were more than a sister to me, you were a friend and someone whom baring my heart to was easy and safe.

I haven't been posting much because of all the turmoil in my heart. Julie has been in the hospital since February 15, 2008 and what she has gone through was horrendous. She did it because she wanted to live.

She truly fit into the catagory of only the good die young.

Our last days together are filled with love and I will cherish every minute of them forever.