She was born in Tam-Ky, Vietnam, just as the war was ending, grew up in Monterey Park, California, and graduated from Williams College and Harvard Law School. Towards the end of her life, Julie wanted to document everything - the emotional experience, trips to the hospital for treatment and conversations like this. She was 42. What began as the chronicle of an imminent and early death became something much more--a powerful exhortation to the living. Not only that, but her blog also serves on love and family. Cancer is completing my life, making it whole. Monday, 01 March 2021 Live a life worth living On 19 March 2018, almost five years after being diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, thirty-eight-year-old Julie Yip-Williams died, leaving behind a husband and two daughters. It taught me to ask for help, to not be ashamed of my physical shortcoming. She would have found another way to kill me, she wrote on her blog in 2014, but my great-grandmother got wind of her daughter-in-laws endeavor from her Da Nang home and commanded that I be left alone: how she was born is how she will be.. She graduated from Harvard Law School, traveled to all seven continents, got married and started a family. Julie Yip-Williams was born on Jan. 6, 1976, in Tam Ky. Julie's family went back to their home in Tam Ky. 8 months after, which was on the 6 th of January 1976, the author named D. L. Thanh opened her eyes to this world. Julie Yip-Williamsdied in March 2018 of colon cancer. Are Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner engaged? Her husband, Joshua Williams has said the cause of her death was metastatic colon cancer. I hope the family is thriving . Julie, you will be missed! On June 19th we're reading The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams. She graduated from Williams College in 1997 and from Harvard Law School in 2002. Born blind in Vietnam, Julie Yip-Williams narrowly escaped euthanasia planned by her grandmother, only to have to flee the political upheaval . CBS Sunday morning also televised her profile this month. [2], "How It Feels to Publish Your Wife's Memoir About Dying", "Julie Yip-Williams, Writer of Candid Blog on Cancer, Dies at 42", "A Mother Documents Her Final Months Of Life In 'Julie' Podcast", "Terminally ill mother-of-two shares journey to the end with podcaster", "How Random House's Mark Warren Helped Julie Yip-Williams with Her Remarkable Memoir", "A Dying Young Woman Reminds Us How to Live", "The author Yip-Williams leaves posthumous advice", "Try these alternatives to high-demand titles", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julie_Yip-Williams&oldid=1120085850, This page was last edited on 5 November 2022, at 02:15. But I realized that these things are the low-hanging fruit, the easy-to-solve but relatively unimportant problems of the oh so mundane. She was a tour de force of organizational abilityas her husband loved to say (and she loved to hear), she was a model of efficiency, organization and clarity, and she ran a tight, firm ship, but her hand ultimately was always guided by love and concern for those of us who were fortunate enough to cross her path. It is delightful and also shattering to the readers. After immigrating to America as a child, Yip-Williams underwent surgery that restored partial sight. She specialized in corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions there. She died in March 2018 and documented the final months of her extraordinary life for the new podcast, Julie. I think she was already dead when I read that post. Here is the link to a conversation Julie had with Tracy Smith of the CBS "Sunday Morning" program. 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. "Born blind in Vietnam, Julie Yip-Williams narrowly escaped euthanasia by her grandmother, only to then flee the political upheaval of the late 1970s with her family. KAGAN: Part of that reverence for that unwinding of the miracle was an intense focus on the process of dying, on what was happening to her body as her death got closer. She was also not able to drive. Finally, she is survived by her beloved cousins Caroline Yip Hendley of Westport, Connecticut and Nancy Yip Ramos of Los Angeles, whom she considered sisters, and by Chipper, her much-adored bichon frise. The journey was a month long and tiring. Rejoice in life and all of its beauty, she told her children. 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. Josh, Mia and Belle- you are in my thoughts. We were lucky because we were not forced to engage in cannibalism, as some other refugees were.. It was for them so that they knew that their mother was looking out for them and providing a beautiful place for them to grow up in. 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. You will ask as you look around at all the other people who still have their parents, Why did my mother have to get sick and die? Against all odds, she became a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a . All rights reserved. I deferred to the professionals, but had a hand in shaping it. It seems to have a life and will of its own that I cannot control through the sheer force of my mind. Below, we get to hear from another uncommon voice that of the bereaved. Julie Yip-Williams died of colon cancer in March 2018. That expectation must be derived from growing up in a rich country where the rule of law is so firmly entrenched. In July 2013 she was diagnosed with Stage Four colon. She's giving me a tour of her Brooklyn apartment. She was 28 when she learned of her near-death in infancy which she called The Secret after her grandmothers death. To see she needed thick glasses and a magnifying glass to read the small print. But I dont know if its really answered any of my deeper questions about the afterlife. You will understand that joy cannot exist without sadness. As the years progress Yip-Williams becomes a lawyer, a wife, and a mother. Im really proud of her. Because its actually happening in real life, said Isabelle, who is 6, and you dont know how it feels like., Ms. Yip-Williams was born Diep Ly Thanh on Jan. 6, 1976, in Tam Ky, a city that was part of South Vietnam until the countrys unification with North Vietnam later that year. She died last year. She didnt engage in happy talk. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance in Julies name. She met Mark [Warren, her editor] after she had made a comment on an article that Mark had written about Stephanie Lee, who was a stage-four colorectal cancer sufferer down in Mississippi. YIP-WILLIAMS: What do you love most about our apartment? She knew she didnt have much time left. In a blog entry written last July, she addressed her daughters, telling them about the instructions she had left (from who your dentist is to when your school tuition needs to be paid) and the videos she would make (about all the ins and outs of the apartment). People looked at me with pity, too, which I loathed. They had two daughters, Mia and Isabelle. She is also survived by her siblings Lyna Yip of New York and Denton Yip and his family (Angel Moon, wife, and Carter and Adrian Yip, Julies nephews) of Palos Verdes Estates, CA, as well as by her parents Peter Yip and Ann Yip of Monterey Park, CA. When Julie Yip-Williams was a few months old, her parents almost had her murdered. Julie is survived by her husband, Joshua R. Williams, and by her daughters Mia Seng Williams (8) and Isabelle Yip Williams (6), all of Brooklyn, New York. Julie Yip-Williams (January 6, 1976 March 19, 2018) was an American lawyer and writer, born Diep Ly Thanh in Vietnam. It's from a woman named Julie Yip-Williams written to her two young daughters. And now I feel like I've come to accept the decline. Be more compassionate people because of it; empathize with those who suffer in their own ways.. It's getting stranger, I think. (This letter features in the book, Letters of Note: Mothers. Know more about Candid Blog writers journey in life and Messages she left for her children! You dont have any control over that it just comes from the government. YIP-WILLIAMS: Nobody else should tell your child that you're dying except you. Diep Ly Thanh was born in Tam K, South Vietnam, the daughter of Diep The Phu (Peter Yip) and Lam Que Anh (Ann Yip). Then, at age 37, with two little girls at home, Julie was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer, and a different journey began. After spending several months in a refugee camp, Julie with her parents and brother flew to San Francisco in November 1979. She had already surmounted difficulties beyond imagining when, at age 37, she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. Julie Yip-Williams has died on Monday at her home in Brooklyn. You will forever be the kids whose mother died of cancer, have people looking at you with some combination of sympathy and pity (which you will no doubt resent, even if everyone means well). My seventh-grade history teacher, Mrs. Olson, a batty eccentric but a phenomenal teacher, used to rebut our teenage protestations of Thats not fair! (for example, when she sprang a pop quiz on us or when we played what was called the Unfair trivia game) with Life is not fair. She had already lived an extraordinary life. It made me think about how life carries on no matter what. But as time wore on, things got darker, in 2016, 2017. Have you come to your own new understanding of death?Its maybe slightly less frightening to me than it was before. So in early 1979, along with 3-year-old Julie and about 50 members of her family became the so-called boat people and boarded fishing boats from Vietnam to Hong Kong. Julie Yip-Williams died in March 2018 of colon cancer. On 19 March 2018, almost five years after being diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, thirty-eight-year-old Julie Yip-Williams died, leaving behind a husband and two daughters. Yip-Williams was born blind in a small village in Vietnam. It is irrepressible, its very existence inextricably tied to our very spirit, its flame, no matter how weak, not extinguishable.. Julie fervently believed in an afterlife, and our most ardent hope is that she is in a better place, one in which she will one day be joined by her loving husband. Life is not fair. But I do know that there is incredible value in pain and suffering, if you allow yourself to experience it, to cry, to feel sorrow and grief, to hurt. [1] Yip-Williams died from colon cancer in 2018, aged 42, at her home in Brooklyn. Terms of Service apply. I love you both forever and ever - Mommy. Feel it. [She] was fairly peaceful when she slipped away so in some ways that did diminish my fear. Joshua Williams, her husband, said the cause was metastatic colon cancer. Compassion cannot exist without cruelty. The lessons that blindness and then cancer have taught me are too many for me to recount here, but I hope, when you read what follows, you will understand how it is possible to be changed in a positive way by tragedy and you will learn the true value of suffering. This password will be used to sign into all, How It Feels to Publish Your Wifes Memoir About Dying, Okay, TikTok, You Can Calm Down About Aubrey Plaza at the SAG Awards Now, Shakira Takes Some Pointers From Taylor Swift, The Surprisingly Contrarian Case Against Lying About Science, Ed Sheeran Completes His PEMDAS Era With New Album, ASTROs Rocky Leaves the Group After Ending Contract. In the coming days, I will make videos about all the ins and outs of the apartment, so that everyone knows where the air filters are and what kind of dog food Chipper eats. Now, she prepares to leave her young daughters behind, passing on lessons of resilience. 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. She also has a brother, Denton and an older sister named Lyna Yip. ARI. Who was I to sit there and kill her dream? She also left behind a manuscript and a few years worth of blog posts chronicling the confounding reality of facing death in her late 30s, which is published this week as The Unwinding of the Miracle. She did not deny it. She has two daughters older daughter Mia and Isabelle,6. Then, at age thirty-seven, with two little girls at home, Julie was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer, and a different journey began. Born blind in You will be deprived of a mother. But also as your mother, I want you to feel the pain, embrace it and then learn from it. Be stronger people because of it, for you will know that you carry my strength within you. She wasnt afraid of death. Show more This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Her blog, with additional material written by Ms. Yip-Williams, is being turned into a memoir by Random House, which expects to publish it later this year or early next year. Here are the details, Meghan McCain is Expecting Baby No.2 with Husband Ben Domenech, Find out more about Lordes younger sister, Indy Yelich! degree from Harvard Law School. Split Alert! Like youre going to end up somewhere tropical.Yeah. What began as the chronicle of an imminent and early death became something much morea powerful exhortation to the living.<br /> <br /> "An exquisitely moving portrait of . Yip-William, in prepare for her death from metastatic colon cancer, stepped back as a story teller, an observer of her turbulent childhood and incredible adult life she led, up to the moment she learned of her fate of dying young. And here is a link toRichard Sandomirs tribute to Juliein the New York Times. Drop photos or files here, or select them from your computer, Julie has been a source of great inspiration and strength during all these years - our hearts go out to all of you; you are in our thoughts. You will forever be the kids whose mother died of cancer. She was a wonderful wife who was a best friend and ally to her husband Josh in a tough world, a Chinese Tiger Mom who loved her daughters infinitely but wouldnt accept mediocrity from them, a loving and concerned sister, daughter, cousin and friend. But this story isn't about the fact that Julie died. 336 pages. In her own words, she was in her prime: a 37-year-old corporate lawyer in New York, happily married with two young girls.. Live thoroughly and completely, thoughtfully, gratefully, courageously, and wisely. She was blind from congenital cataracts, and a grandmother pressured her parents to find an herbalist to end the baby's life. Yip-Williams recorded the various chemo cocktails doctors prescribed her, the temptation to simply give in and stop all treatment, the forced jollity and fierceness of fellow cancer sufferers, and, most movingly, her attempts to come to terms with the fact that her daughters would grow up without her and her husband might one day find new love. Rejoice in life and all of its beauty because of it; live with special zest and zeal for me.. She was a strong woman throughout her life. Upper-class families like that of Julie had their assets confiscated by Vietnams Communist government. Her vision was improved with surgery in Los Angeles, but she remained legally blind. It is an immigrant story, a love story, and a . The Magical Last Hours of the Flix Gonzlez-Torres Show. But the herbalist spared her, and Yip-Williams went on to escape Vietnam, get eye surgery, attend Harvard Law, marry another attorney, and set up a good life in New York. Born in Vietnam, Julie Yip-Williams was a writer, mother, wife and lawyer who grew up in California and graduated from Harvard Law School. We could not be more proud of the life she lived or the person she was. Cancer crushes hope, leaving a wasteland of grief, depression, despair and a sense of unending futility. Glasses and a sense of unending futility over that it just comes from the government but. She 's giving me a tour of her extraordinary life for the new York Times Flix Gonzlez-Torres.. Also serves on love and family sister named Lyna Yip was I to there! 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