My sweet sister-in-law passed away on Thursday, December 15th from a brain tumor she had for 10 years. Words can't describe the heartbreak the Penrod family has felt over her loss. Julie was married to Aaron (Keith's older brother) and they have a 10 year old son Tennyson. Julie was so many things; kind, caring, genuine, funny, witty, sweet, and spiritual. Her facebook was flooded with literally hundreds of people expressing their grief over her passing. She touched so many lives. She was a part of my life for 9 1/2 years.
I remember the first time I met Julie was at Tennyson's baby shower in SLC. Keith and I weren't even dating yet, but just good friends who had gone down to SLC with his sister and another friend for the weekend. She was so sweet and genuine the first time I met her, she always was. She had a way of making you feel special, always remembering the last conversation you had even if it was months ago and following up with questions like "how is this person in your family doing?" she would always remember their names and what was going on in their lives, I was impressed, especially since there are so many people in my immediate family. She truly cared about how you were doing and what was going on in your life, she also always greeted you with a hug and didn't leave without giving a hug.
We bonded over marrying boys from the East and being from the West and silly things we did that East Coasters didn't--like putting butter on our pancakes. She and I both shared a love for sweets, she sure had a sweet tooth. Our sons are best friends, so it's hard for me to see that Tennyson won't have his mom with him on this earth anymore. Carson absolutely loves Tennyson and they have so much fun together. I have so many great memories with Julie, a lot of Christmases were spent with the Penrod family--five to be exact, and Julie would always write the most perfect poem summing up everyone's year, they always rhymed, they were always funny, and she wrote them in like 10 minutes. She sure was witty and would always have something funny to say, I'm really going to miss her. Till we meet again. Love you Julie.
Just wanted to add one more thing--I'll never forget back in March when we called our families to tell them we were expecting twins. Julie's reaction is one I will never forget, and always treasure, it still makes me cry to this day. When we called Julie and told her the news, she cried, she was so happy for us, genuinely happy because she knew of my struggle with infertility, she knew of my miscarriage and even though she knew she would never be able to physically give birth to anymore children in this life because of her condition, she was still so happy for me and Keith and our little family. It's one of my most favorite things about Julie, she cared so much for others and was always truly happy for them.
This is my favorite picture of all us Penrod girls
Kathleen (Brandon's wife) Catherine, Me, Julie, Krista
Hard to believe this picture was taken just three years ago and we've added five more grandkids and had to say goodbye to Julie.
