The thing that amazed me most about Julie was her ability to take any challenge as a game. Julie faced barriors like we all do, but she never ever expected anyone to feel sorry for her. I'm sure it never even occurred to her to feel sorry for herself.
One of my most vivid memories is of a beach trip to Santa Cruz that Julie and I planned together. She had been missing the beach, no surprise, and we both needed to do a long run so we figured why not do it along the surf? I made a "Jewelee and Leeia's Beach Trip CD" because for some reason we had an inside joke of spelling eachother's names differently every time we wrote them. Julie made cookies with just about everything in the kitchen cabinet at the churchill house, including a packet of powerbar gel as the icing.
Our long run didn't go as well though; about 15min into the run Julie had bad stomach cramps and was obviously hurting. I asked if she wanted to stop and I could pick her up later. Julie, her beautiful long blonde hair flipping in the breeze, responded with gritted teeth "No. I'm not gonna let this stupid stomach pain beat me." And so we ran. We ran and finished our long run and then went to play in the waves. Of course Julie outlasted me, so I sat in the sand and watched her body surf.
Julie taught me a lot about life without her knowing it. Without even me knowing it. She didn't take herself too seriously, as I tend to do. She saw life as the beautiful game that it is; full of challenges and obstacles but not dead ends. And always with a beach waiting at the end of it.
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