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Julie

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Before I go though I would like to say that I have been overwhelmed with the messages of condolences and support that I have received from my friends and those folk that have been following our story (from whenever) but said nothing until after Julie passed away, to these folk I would like to say a big thank you for reading our story and being brave enough to send a message, it is really comforting to know that you have been with us on our journey.

Dave X
 
Dave - I'm late to an update and i do apologize for that. I can't believe everything you've had to go through these last few months. I continue to pray for you and the final decision, such as the jewelry. Many hugs! Also, please don't close this thread until after the eulogy and our chance to read and share with you. I for one will miss you around here. I do hope you'll stop by the caregivers section and say hello now and again. You story has touched me deeply.

Love and Hugs,

Sue
 
Dear Dave, I have been one of those who have followed Julie's and your story from the beginning, but have never made any comments. Now, firstly, I would like to express my deepest sympathy, but I would also like to tell you that throughout your story the beauty of a human soul shines - your soul! You revive my faith im humanity. I strongly admire what you did and continue doing for your beloved Julie!
 
Dave, it's wonderful to read posts from our normally silent members about how they've followed your story. You have affected many more people with your honesty than you will ever know.

I love your plan for Julie's jewelry. It's perfect. You have done this alone and so the choice is yours, and I love the choice you made.

Here's to more sleep and healing, my friend.

Becky
 
Today is the day, the day that Julie, hopefully gets the send off I have planned. Today I am so nervous, not because that today is the day but the fact that I have not had text, phone call or message from any of Julie's grown up children and again, grown up Grandkids, since Julie's passing some 12 days ago :(
 
Well... What can I say. The whole family with the exception of my Son and his girlfriend blanked me completely even as far as turning their back on me when we arrived and walked passed me after the service

I'm Gutted to the core
 
I have a paper copy of Julie's eulogy, will type it out in a day or so
 
I'm sorry Dave, that's just not right.
 
Terribly sorry to hear that. Why on earth would anyone do such a thing? I'm sure Julie is smiling down on you though, which is what matters most. I'm sorry for your loss and for the fact there are some really awful people in this world, but I'm grateful the goodness of mankind still exists. Please don't let the actions of others dampen your spirit.
 
Dave I am terribly sorry. That was totally rude and uncalled for by any of them. Hugs my friend! Julie knows and I'm sure was happy with all that you did for her.

Sue
 
Dave I am so sorry. You stood by Julie and were there for her. Take care. I am thinking of you. May God Bless you and yours.
Love,
Laurel
 
Well, after yesterday I am up and about (it's 02:30), I am wide awake and raring to go, well I did go to bed at 17:00. I think I might start typing Julie's eulogy, so my next post will be my last with regards to Julie's life, the last thing I can do for her, in this life anyway.

Dave X
 
Julie Anne Kerwood
Tuesday 30th August 2016
Ardsley Crematorium at 12:10

Entry Music - (Elvis Presely - Crying in the Chapel)

Reading

Say goodbye to a real person.
Remember Only my Best.
I've come to the end of my journey
Travelled my last weary mile,
Forget if you cam, any frowns
Remember, only my smile.

Forget, any dark words spoken
Remember the good I have done.
Forget, that there ever was heartache,
Remember, the laughter and fun.

Forget that I stumbled and blundered
That sometimes, I fell by the way
Remember, when people are hurting,
They don't always mean what they say.

Do not grieve for my goiing
Or feel you ever must cry
in summer gather some flowers
Come place them where I lie.

Then in the shade of the evening,
When the sun paints the sky in the west;
Stand for a moment beside me
And remember, only my best

Eulogy

Julie was born in Rotherham Hospital, and grew up in Wath-upon-Dearne. Her parents were Doris (who hailed from Oxford) and Richard, and Julie had a sister, Jane. It seems that Julie had a happy, healthy childhood, workingher way through school until she started to work. Her early work was with Burtons Tailors, where she worked as a seemstress and developed considerable skill. She tried her hand at various things, but the focus of her life was was much more on family than work. At 18 she met Ken and their relationship grew into a marriage, and they were blessed with a growing family. Donna, Caroline, Wayne, and Kenneth - that grew when grandchildren arrived - Christopher, Stacey and Grant, Shauni and Brandon, and in January there will be the arrival of a Great Grandchild. The marriage had it's ups and downs, as do all marriages, and, like many it didn't run its full course, ending when they went their seperate ways. But their family they built will always remain as a testomony to the love and hope that they started out with.

In time Julie met Dave - In rather unusual circumstances. They were sitting near each other whiole travelling on a ship when Dave, leaning back in his seat, fell backwards when the ship hit a large wave. Julie clearly saw the funny side of this, and her laughter got them talking. I suppose it is an interesting thought that they would never had got together if dave hadn't had a bump on the head! Makes you think!

But the knock on the head did the trick. Dave was serving with the Corps of Royal Engineers in Germany, and they soon discovered that they shared many interests. Julie was very fit and active, loved motorbikes, and was, how do I say this - just a bit mad. They were building a new life together, and the family expanded to include young David, and they followed a rather interesting journey when dave left the Army. They spent some time living with Caroline, spent about a year in a house in Elsecar, South Yorkshire. Then took to the roads with a touring caravan for about two and a half years. Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, looked like a decent place to live, so they settled there for 4 or 5 years, then God interviened and brought them back home to Bolton-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire, where they spent some 15 years, liviing in the Furlong Road area where there is a great sense of community spirit there, and some really interesting people.

As Julie's health deteriorated, it became clear that Julie needed a home without stairs, and in January this year they moved to the bungalow in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Julie will always be remembered for her personality - Happy, Bubbly, and always a bit of a joker! Julie could be described as a spontaneous person, someone who lived her life with a sense of immediacy, a real sense of the value of the moment - and lived as though every moment counted.

Julie loved her holidays, especially if it involved lots of sunshine. So we are talking Miami, Turkey and Spain, When in Spain she liked to immerse herself in the local culture, especially the sophisticated food - faced with an array of exotic and unpronounceable food, she opted for her favourite - Chicken and Chips!
You can take the firl out of Wath............

Then around 2006 there began to be the first early signs of illness - those first few senior moments, a bit of forgetfullness, and then the recognition that Dementia was creepiing on her radar. Eventually a diagnosis of Frontotemporal tementia (FTD) and Motor Neurone Disease (MND/ALS) was made, after 12 months of exhaustive testing, and the extent of the challenge became clear. These were devistating and degenerative diseases, and which had a massive impact on those caring for the victim of them. Reasearch at Curtin University in Perth, Australia shows that the impact of these behaviours and the psychological well-being of carers of people with FTD and MND/ALS is massive. This studay investigated the needs, burden, and extent of depression and anxiety in carers of people with FTD and MND/ALS compared for exdample, to carers of people with FTD and MND/ALS were significantly higher than those of carers with Alzheimer's, and that without proper support and resources, the carers themselves can become extremely ill.

It must have been extremely distressing for those around her when julie lost her lanuage skills, as happend to FTD and MND/ALS patients, and communication becomes very dificult indeed. Fortunately Julie was surrounded by a couple of people who loved and cared for her, and who stepped up to the line when needed. In addition to Dave himself, there was much appreciated support from Caroline, towards the end, who became an almost permanent feature at the nursing home, bathing her Mum, and helping in as many ways possible. And Emma, David's girlfriend who has been a rock, and to whom Julie made one of her last gifts - some of her precious make-up. There were those people who wheere there when they were needed to be, and Julie always appreciated that - even though she was largely unaware of her condition, and frequently denied that there was anything wrong with her at all!

In the end there is no escape from these devastating illnesses, and Julie passed away - having become a shadow of her former self, but leaving behind wonderful memories of this funny, lively woman who lived life on her terms and who built so much. She built a great network of friends and great memories.

Julie wasn't a particularly religious person, but I am sure that when she arrives in heaven she'll soon have them sorted out, without a doubt she will be on the lookout for some pretty divine chicken and chips!

Be glad that you knew her
Be glad that you loved her
Be proud of everything she achieved
And honour her memory by living in a way that makes a difference to other people. She did. And she will be missed by many people.

Today:
We have mourned her passing
We have briefly revisited her story
We have celebrated her life
And we have reminded ourselves how much richer our lives are because she was in them.
As Julie moves on from with us, to living within us.
Wish julie Goodbye, God Bless, and God Speed.

Time for reflection Music - (Elvis Presely - Blue suede Shoes)

Committal.

As we accept life, so must we also accept death as one of the unchanging laws of nature's design. It is with grateful hearts that we remember all the good things we were able to share with Julie
It wasgood that we could share in her life, and receive from her spirit.
With Julie's journey now ended, we commend her soul to the love and grace of her creator;

To everything there is a season
And a time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born,
And a time to die.
Here and now.....in this final act.....
In sorrow but withouot fear.....
In love and appreciation.....

We commit her body to be cremated, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope that we will be re-united with her in eternity.

Lord of all creation, and Father of mankind, we thank you for the life of your child Julie, and for the sharing of that life with those who loved her.
As her life here has ended, and she moves from living with us to living within us, we commit her spirit to your eternal care, and her living to the treasury of our hearts and minds.

Accept her into your eternal love and grant her peace.

Julie, you have walked among us - Flesh, blood, mind, heart, and spirit. You have brought strength ... You have brought light ... You have brought love ... And we value everything you have been, and everything you have sought to be. As we stand here together - rest in Peace.

One at Rest.

Reading.

Think of me at rest, for me you should not weep
I have no pain no troubled thoughts for I am asleep
The living thinking me that was, is now forever still
And life goes on without me now, as time forever will

If your heart is heavy now because I've gone away
Dwell not long upon it friend for none of us can stay
Those of you who liked me, I sincerely thatnk you all
And those of you who loved me, I thank you most of all.

And in my fleeting lifespan, as time went rushing by
I found some time to hesitate, to laugh, to love, to cry
Matters it now if time begab if time will never cease
I was here, I used it all, and now I am at peace.

Benediction

The tide recedes but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down, but gentle warmth still lingers on the land.
The music stops, and yet it echoes on in sweet refrains....
For every joy that passes something beautiful remains.

Go in Peace, Go in Love, Go with your God.

Curtains Closed

Exit Music - (Elvis Presely - Jailhouse Rock)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dave X
 
Now is the time to never forget but to continue and live MY life to the fullest.

Watch out World... I'm Back!

Dave X
 
All the very best to you Dave as you start a new life, may life be very kind to you. Luv and hugs Gem
 
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