more thoughts on the previous post

My mother had the same best friend since Kindergarten, and her name was Julie. For us growing up she was like a cross between a second mother and a fun older sister. Somehow, she would turn every situation into harmless wildness, which is exactly what kids love. This might involve prodding us all into having a shaving cream fight, or it might involve seeing “Chicago” on an exit sign and simply telling everyone in the car that they were going to Chicago (4.5 hours away), and taking them there without prior notice.

She also had an unusually global vision for someone of her time and place. She first volunteered to take two Vietnamese refugees into her home, and these wonderful young men left their refugee camps in Malaysia and ended up in Eastern Iowa. They became great friends of ours growing up: one in particular, named Loi. He still lives in Eastern Iowa and works as an electrical engineer. Later in life she became fascinated by India and went there several times to work with the poor and the ill. This was after returning to college and becoming a nurse, despite a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

In 2002, in her mid-50’s, Julie died of pancreatic cancer. Mitch, who died a week ago at age 32, was the second of her three children. I not only remember him as a baby, I even remember being lured into a betting pool to predict his birthdate. That pool was won by my youngest brother, whose crazily late guess turned out to be accurate to within one day.

It’s been a number of years since I saw Mitch, his older brother, or his younger sister, but I receive news of them frequently and felt like I had some idea of where they were in life.