Hard to believe that it's been nearly eight years since Julie passed away from complications resulting from bulemia and anorexia nervosa ... she would have been 23 this year had she lived ... God, how I miss her!

I am now able to talk about her and her passing at long last after years of denial and anger/bitterness, but then I realized that being angry all of the time wasn' t going to bring Julie back.  I have since learned to accept her death and although at times it is still far from easy (like during holidays or her birthday), I can now at least cope and know that she is in a much better (and probably happier) place.

Dory Eliaabeth Uecker here.  I hope this finds y'all well and reasonably happy.  As I said, I still have my good days and bad days when it comes to dealing with Julie's unexpected death at the age of fifteen years old.  I am finding out that I am remembering her with fondness and remember both the good and bad times in her life.  Julie was a wonderful young lady,  and I felt privileged to have been her mother for fifteen years.  

I no longer crying at the mention of her name or thinking about her.  I have learned to accept Julie's death and although I still cry sometimes, I am finally at peace and know that from her passing, I can help other teenage girls (or even boys) who might be going through the exact same thing she did.  It is all I can do to keep her legacy alive and I pray that whenever I visit students and they are struggling, I can at least make a small difference in their lives.

My surviving children who survive are very passionate about speaking out about the dangers of what society is passing on to youngsters (particularly young teen and preteen, and maybe even some younger, girls), that "thin is in and fat is out".  Maybe that was meant to be all in good, but what about those girls who sstruggle with weight and/or suffer from chronic health conditions that prevent them from being able TO diet or exercise properly?  What about those kids who are poor and can't afford the right foods?  If I can help one of these kids, then my job will have been worth everything!

I am currently helping out at the local Weight Watchers chapter and have lost some needed weight myself.  I feel and look so much better!  I'm just sorry that I couldn't have done more to help Julie understand the concept that she was not, in any way, fat, while she was alive!  That is probably the biggest regret I have right now.

Well, I'm getting ready to make supper: tonight it is talapia fish with baked potatoes, green lettuce with tomatoes and cucumbers, drizzled with a little low-fat, low cholesterol Italian dressing, asparagus spears, and for dessert, lime jello.  I hope my family will like what I have prepared for them; I worked hard enough on it!  I will write in here again soon; until then, this is Dory Elzabeth Uecker saying so long; may God bless you always!

~Love, your friend in Nashville, Tennessee, Dory.  :)