Good Tear's!

The following was forwarded to me. Reading it made me smile and it brought tears to my eyes.
I had no idea that anything I shared made the impact it has. Thank You for your kind words and Thank You God for using this imperfect child. You made my day!

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:54:20 -0400From: "Jean E. Miller"

Subject: HD Blog - Cup of Java [Julie Sando where are you?]

Many of us remember our friend, Julie Sando, who was a member of this list for many, many years. Through Julie's beautiful messages, we learned about how HD entered her life when her Mom was diagnosed. Then through all the difficult decision time, when Julie decided to get tested only to get the joyous news that she tested negative which left her with the deepest feelings of survivor's guilt. Through the years we held Julie's hand and heart as she went through the later-stages of HD with her beloved Mom and the struggles she faced within her immediate family from devoting so much time to her Mom's care. Julie's strength has always come from God and He has given her a gift of not only a deep compassion, but one of expression through writing as well. Imagine my surprise this morning, when searching for something on HD [that's not a surprise], one Google entry took me to a new blog called Cup of Java.

Well I remember Julie's on-line name of Jvabean and wondered "could this be Julie's blog?" The article on that link I was taken to was "Even If". As I quickly glanced over that entry I see a picture of myself and Kelly, [one of the HDSA Time awareness ads], then I knew.....YES this was our Julie's blog!! It looks like Julie started her blog earlier this year and I'm sure she'll have a lot more articles, poems and other items to add to it as time goes by. But, for now, for those new to our HD family, reading Julie's articles on being at-risk for HD and what she and her family have been through, will not only validate some of your own feelings, but provide you a little insight to Julie's heart. Julie - if you're still out there, THANK YOU! I can not express my own words of deep appreciation to you for your entry "Even If" in your blog where you talk about me and my precious Kelly. Between October and November of each year is when I go into a period of deep self-evaluation. This time of the year is always difficult for me, between my passing years [65 this birthday] and the anniversary of Kelly's death next month [9 years November 15th], so to read your entry this morning truly lifted my heart and spirits! Like you're entry "Why?" I have learned we need to focus more on the whats we have, the gifts we've been given and those we can and should look forward to. Love you Julie!

Jean

Source: Cup of Javehttp://wwwjvabeans.blogspot.com/Welcome to my blog! My online moniker is Jvabean. I don't think you will have any questions as to why. Good coffee and great conversation seem to go together. Here is a cup of Jva for you! Update: I am working on a book of sorts called "Even If". It is about my life of which Huntington's Disease is a part. In fact, the knowledge of HD kicked this whole book off. I hope it touches someone right where they are at. Even Ifhttp://wwwjvabeans.blogspot.com/2007/03/even-if.htmlIn this article Julie describes what it was like first learning about HD when her Mom was diagnosed and how hard it was facing that not only she, but her children and siblings were at risk. This is a wonderful article describing how, for Julie [and many of us], it was through her on-line HD family where she received the most love and support.

The Cliff and the Choicehttp://wwwjvabeans.blogspot.com/2007/03/cliff-and-choice.htmlJulie's poem about the difficulties and soul searching she went through about testing for Huntington's Disease and how, after testing negative, the sense of "Survivor's Guilt" she felt.

The Burning Househttp://wwwjvabeans.blogspot.com/search/label/HD%20Huntingtons%20DiseaseIn this article talking about her guilt of testing negative Julie uses a burning house scenario to describe what it's like to have tested negative for HD [to have survived a burning fire] yet not feeling any joy because there are still so many people still in that house suffering.

Why?http://wwwjvabeans.blogspot.com/search/label/Why%3FIn this short article Julie, like us all, asks the familiar questions we all have, "Why me?", "Why not me? and writes how God is not to blame. It's not the whys, its the whats; how the hardest thing is walking through the tough stuff and embracing them.