A Celebration of Life and a Book Release

At the stroke of midnight, the cartons were ripped open at our local Barnes and Noble, heralding in one more milestone for my best-est friend and honorary "little sister", Julie. Five years ago, she was actively engaged in a stem cell transplant as part of the treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, facing each day as a valiant warrior in her own fight. One day she remarked that she would really hate it if she never knew what happened to Harry Potter. This morning, she knows the ending and lives to reach for new goals, and enrich my life in the process.

Julie, her cancer, and her recovery are the reason why I renewed my love affair with knitting. During her treatment, she sat in on a knitting group at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, learned to cast on and she was off and knitting. She's warmed her world with Harry Potter scarves ...she always has one on the needles. I started knitting again because I wanted to share her new passion.

To meet the irrepressible Julie is to love her immediately. Here's to Harry and here's to Julie--my world is richer because of both of them.