This morning my heart is very heavy.
We are members of an online community of photographers called OSP. This morning I read that one of our fellow OSP-ers has passed away. Her name was Julie. She was beautiful and funny and always willing to offer help and suggestions. She lived in Minnesota so we have never gotten the chance to meet her in person but remember her humor and wisdom from her posts in our forum. It may sound a little silly but we all get to know each other pretty well and its as if someone in our family has died.
Her death was extremely tragic, she died on a youth mission trip with her church, but she died a hero. You can read the article here.
One of her favorite things to say was, "Life is short, hold the apple." based on a funny story that had happened at lunch with a friend.
Here is the story as told by her friend, John Magnoski:
We would meet at a place called The Good Earth in Edina, MN while planning OSP MN 2.0 - it's a 'natural' restaurant.
Anyway, I ordered an Arnold Palmer (y'know, half lemondade half iced tea) and when I was drinking it I started getting an itchy through and my lip was feeling puffy. So I asked the waitress if they put apple in my 'arnie'... her reply was, "Yes. We put apple in all of our fresh drinks. " My response - "Oh, well can I have some bread and a coke? I'm terribly allergic to apples."
Waitress response was typical "I'm so sorry... sure we'll get you that bread."
All the while Julie and Christina are looking at me like this - 8-O
Julie then makes one of her funny remarks and says "Next time, hold the apple."
It then spun off into so many variations. She actually had a shirt made that said "Life is short, hold the apple".
Another of her favorite quotes was, "Friends don't let friends use spastic punctuation."
As you can see, she was sweet, funny, and full of charm. Her church, family, and friends are are going through a horrible time in the wake of this event so please remember them in your prayers.
Julie Steiskal
photo by John Magnoski
Rebecca and Nate,
Just a note to let you know we are thinking about you and are sorry for the "world's" loss..... Our prayers are with her family and friends....
Mom
My prayers go out to Julie's family and friends as well as the girl that was with her. What a tragic loss. ~ C