Today I thought of and celebrated the brilliant life of my dear sister-in-law Julie Leff. Today is her memorial gathering in Atlanta. I wish I could be there to support my brother and my two nieces and meet all of Julie's friends but as I can't, I tried to be mindful of the day and do something to mark her life and our loss.

I donated to the Cancer center she worked as a nurse for and received care from. We went exploring in a new beautiful place I had never been, the canal. (Julie loved travel and adventure).We had Thai food for dinner (Julie served in Thailand in the PeaceCorps and then later we headed to the beach with 5 sky lanterns. One for each decade of her brilliant life. Set alight and floating high above the north sea and out into the night sky like stars... I talked to the lanterns as they floated up and away, talking to Julie, my brother, my nieces...