...and I will let Rachel have the honors.

The postings below are from Rachel's Facebook page:

     Rachel Jones

A decade ago, if you’d asked me if I could survive five years beyond the death of my beloved sister-mother Julie Ann Marie Jones Newell, I might have said, “No.”

But on this 5th anniversary of her transition, this image explains how I’ve found the strength to keep going. Julie rose like a phoenix from the ashes of pain and disability so many times, we thought she was invincible. She blazed like the sun, shone like a star. Julie was a natural phenomenon, like a rainbow.

I don’t think my brother-in-law Ron staged or Photoshopped this picture taken during one of their Hawaii trips, but it so perfectly captures Julie’s spirit.

While rainbows have always been my lucky symbol, this image reminds me that you don’t always need to SEE a rainbow to keep going. Just remember the shimmering beauty, and BELIEVE.

     Rachel Jones

The partial rainbow that appeared in the skies above Gulu, Uganda when I returned there in Nov. 2007, after my sister Julie's funeral

FOOTNOTE:

Rachel is right...

...there was no staging or photoshopping.

As always, with Julie, there was no faking it...

...she was the real deal!