My best friend played Jenny, the pretty one, in The Prime of Miss Jean Brody in the fall of her senior year and my junior year in high school. At the end of the previous school year we bonded on the hill behind the school, crying over our boyfriends going off to college. The next summer, our Summer of Love we were both dating the community pool lifeguards, college boys. 

I’ve never known a more beautiful, more brilliant, kinder, more generous, curious and loving human being than my best friend. 

 And with a freakishly good memory for odd details. When I told her I wanted to get tested for kidney donation she reminded me that we had different blood types because when we were lab partners and we did blood typing in high school biology her’s was Type A and mine was Type B. I told her I had no idea how she remembered that but I messed up the process and just fudged my answer. I was type A. The only thing I remembered was that I got to dissect the shark brain myself because dissection disgusted her.  

There are so many things I admire and cherish about my best friend. Like her strong moral compass and how if you are missing the mark she will tell you. But never condescending or with scorn or reprimand. Always with love and great caring.  And her immense  love and pride for her children and husband. And our summers at the beach as our children arrived and grew. And our adventures in Sedona and how she can plan and execute a vacation, all the way to the casino stay during comic con just for me. And how she reminds me that she IS funny. 

Every day, every minute I will try to feel her spirit rise within me and maybe ease my broken heart.

A talented photographer with a quirky sense of humor, Julie continually inspired me with her wisdom, kindness, and creativity. This collection draws on art she created and art that I created for her. When her spirit calls to me in a particular way, this is what happens!