YIP-WILLIAMS: What is it about your bedroom that you love the most? I call it the evolution of the soul. At her death she was forty-two, and lived in Brooklyn with her husband, Josh, and their daughters, Mia and Isabelle. The worth of a persons life lies not in the number of years lived; rather it rests on how well that person has absorbed the lessons of that life, how well that person has come to understand and distill the multiple, messy aspects of the human experience. She emigrated from Vietnam to Los Angeles when she was nearly four years old and grew up in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. (This letter features in the book, Letters of Note: Mothers. We were lucky because we were not forced to engage in cannibalism, as some other refugees were.. She was 28 when she learned of her near-death in infancy which she called The Secret after her grandmothers death. I dont know if my words could ever ease your pain. In 2018, Chen showed support for her husband in a statement on . I was very deeply in love with her. It made me think about how life carries on no matter what. Her blog was so honesther take on dealing with her life and ultimately, her death, was such an inspiration and a comfortfor myself and countless others. The journey was a month long and tiring. Get used to it! Somehow, we grow up thinking that there should be fairness, that people should be treated fairly, that there should be equality of treatment as well as opportunity. She was born blind. She touched thousands of lives with her blog and her brave fight against Stage IV colon cancer. Oh, how I long to have perfect vision, even after all these years without. Like, oh, (laughter) I'm very interested to see how it unfolds. We want to take a moment now to note the death this past Monday of Julie Yip-Wlliams. My mother didnt think it worthwhile to have me study Chinese after English school, as my siblings did, because she assumed I wouldnt be able to see the characters. [1] In 1979, she escaped Vietnam with dozens of family members, in a fishing boat. Loaded into a rickety boat with three hundred other refugees, Julie made it to Hong Kong and, ultimately, America, where a surgeon gave her partial sight. [3][4], The blog and other writing by Yip-Williams, including a manuscript about her childhood, were compiled into a memoir, The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After (2019), edited by her friend Mark Warren[5] and published posthumously. Cancer crushes hope, leaving a wasteland of grief, depression, despair and a sense of unending futility. The expanded two-day event includes Ari Lennox and GloRilla. Julie was born January 6, 1976, in Tam Ky, Vietnam and was of Chinese descent. Julie Ly Yip-Williams, beloved wife, mother, sister and daughter, passed away on March 19, 2018 at the age of 42, following a long and fierce battle with advanced colon cancer. I long for death to make me whole, to give me what was denied me in this life. JoshManton and I are so sorry to hear of Julies passing. But in the meantime, live, my darling babies. Like you, I had my own loss, the loss of vision, which involved the loss of so much more. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. During the segment, which was taped in late January and early February, Ms. Yip-Williamss younger daughter, Isabelle, explained to the CBS correspondent Tracy Smith why she wasnt too young to discuss her mothers cancer openly. Join us on Monday, February 11 th at Random House for a special Big Ideas Night celebrating the late Julie Yip-Williams and her searing memoir, THE UNWINDING OF THE MIRACLE. I believe this dream will come true. Julie Yip-Williams' memoir is written with honesty, humor, and anger. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. Are Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner engaged? Most dates on his world tour have been canceled. YIP-WILLIAMS: They don't recall a time when I wasn't sick because when I was diagnosed, Mia was 3, and Belle was not even 2. She would go on to become a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a husband, a family, and a life she had once assumed would be impossible. Rejoice in life and all its beauty because of it; live with special zest and zeal for me. Now, she prepares to leave her young daughters behind, passing on lessons of resilience. What strength Julie Yip-Williams and her husband had. She was just over the moon. Its not just the vision issue. I hope the family is thriving . She joined an international law firm based in New York and, with her husband, Josh, and two daughters, Mia and Isabelle, made a life that, she wrote, "came to so much more than I ever thought possible." Her circle of friends encompassed many parts of the globe and included people of all religions, ethnicities, political persuasions, sexual orientations and occupations. Walk through the experience, and just love it because it's part of your life. Her posthumously published book is essentially the blog she kept during those five years,. She did not deny it. Rejoice in life and all of its beauty because of it; live with special zest and zeal for me.. I think that is an important part of the story. degree from Harvard Law School. But the herbalist refused the gold bars he was offered, and Julie came home to her angry grandmother. [9], Julie Yip married fellow lawyer Joshua Williams. She was an incredibly adventurous person who traveled all seven continents by the time she was 30. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Her story also attracted the attention of CBS Sunday Morning, which televised a profile of her this month. Change). ARI. And I said, mommy's getting sicker and sicker. She was soon given partial sight by a surgeon, studied at Harvard, and became a successful lawyer, but then, in her thirties, she was struck down by the illness that would kill her. One year ago today, Julie Yip-Williams died of colon cancer at 42, leaving behind her husband Josh and two young daughters. She drew so much strength from writing this blog and was deeply appreciative of her readers and the meaningful relationships she forged with so many of you. I only came to know about her very late. And as a companion to the memoir, Julie Yip-Williams invited producer Eleanor Kagan to help her record the final months of her life. Im not sure. (he has one son, Zak, from his first marriage, and a daughter, Zelda . (LogOut/ Hope is a funny thing, though. Her paternal grandmother was then the familys head and to her, the newborn girls condition only meant burden and no future. But I dont know if its really answered any of my deeper questions about the afterlife. They landed in Hong Kong as refugees, and moved to California by the end of 1979. I think its such a bolt of lightning. Julie Yip-Williams died in March 2018 of colon cancer. Although Julie did not write the blog with the intention of commercializing her work, through a series of serendipitous occurrences the blog was picked up by Random House and is being converted into a book that we all ardently hope will make a difference in peoples lives. Why Was The TikToker Mormon Mom Taylor Frankie PaulArrested? Ms. Yip-Williams received a bachelors degree in English and Asian Studies from Williams College in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard Law School. Then life intervened. Loaded into a rickety boat with three hundred other refugees, Julie made it to Hong Kong and, ultimately, America, where a surgeon at UCLA gave her partial sight. Live thoroughly and completely, thoughtfully, gratefully, courageously, and wisely. Then there are Titi and Uncle Mau and Aunt Nancy and Aunt Caroline and Aunt Sue and so many dear friends, all of whom knew and loved me so well who think of you and pray for you and worry about you. I was denied opportunities, too; I was always the scorekeeper and never played in the games during PE. Is there anything in the book that you hadnt read until after she died? Born blind in Vietnam, Julie Yip-William and her family flee to America, where she has surgery that gives her back partial sight. Big hugs coming from SCwe love you. And we decided to do it in 2013, even though Julie had just been diagnosed with this awful disease. Before her diagnosis in 2013, Yip-Williams had done more than her share of living. It made me more resourceful. We only met her in person once at your wedding, but have always admired her strength, bravery, and wisdom, along with the endless list of her other amazing qualities. I think it's a bit garish and ugly, but she loves it (laughter). But also as your mother, I want you to feel the pain, to live it, embrace it, and then learn from it. To see she needed thick glasses and a magnifying glass to read the small print. $27. She didnt engage in happy talk. Rounding up our favorite funny videos of the month. She died in March 2018, aged forty-two, and leaves behind her husband, Josh, and their daughters, Mia and Isabelle. I remember sitting there with her, all in a state of shock of course, and looking at the blogs that were out there. Yip-Williamss memoir is different: more raw, less lyrical, and brilliantly honest about the rage that accompanies the physical and emotional pain of a premature death. Never ever forget that. I deferred to the professionals, but had a hand in shaping it. Donations can be made online athttps://fundraise.ccalliance.org/blue-star-tributes/julieyipwilliamsor mailed to: Colorectal Cancer Alliance, 1025 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 1066, Washington, DC 20005. Julie was many thingsa brilliant scholar, a talented attorney, a fantastic writer, a lover of life who traveled to places as far-flung as the South Pole, Egypt, Jordan, Bangladesh, the Galapagos Islands, Paris, China and Vietnam, among many others, a lover of fine food, a fantastic cook who owned probably fifty cookbooks and could produce (good) restaurant-quality food, a voracious reader and yet also an avid and unapologetic binge television-watcherbut even more fundamentally, she was a loyal and loving person who put her family first. Anyone can read what you share. But I realized that these things are the low-hanging fruit, the easy-to-solve but relatively unimportant problems of the oh so mundane. You will forever be the kids whose mother died of cancer. Josh Williams, who usheredThe Unwindingto press, spoke with us about the books genesis, his difficulty in sharing Julies story, and the hell of learning that youll only get four more years with the person youd been planning on living with for the next 50. I didnt read the post that she wrote to me titled, Love the last or second-to-last post she wrote until months after the fact. And I was like, what's it going to feel like? Is there anything that you want people to know about Julie that they cant understand from reading this book?I think that Julie was probably the bravest person that I ever met. This is my challenge to you, my sweet girls, to take an ugly tragedy and transform it into a source of beauty, love, strength, courage, and wisdom. Julie was a corporate lawyer and also an author. It was definitely there from the very beginning of her cancer journey. Split Alert! 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