Leave it to Juliet to turn something as mundane and silly as a facial into something fun and glamorous.

Here's a poem I wrote about Juliet long before there was a cancer. It sums up how I always felt about her. She was one of a kind.

Tell you what... Let's get this death stuff out of the way so that we can get on to more interesting things about Juliet's life. Here is the obituary that ran for Juliet in The Boston Globe:

When Juliet died, I just couldn't call everyone she knew and I knew. After the memorial service, I wrote this announcement, which I sent to those folks who might not have heard the news.

(Note: This is an Adobe Acrobat file. Don't bother selecting the link if you don't have Acrobat Reader.)

At her request, Juliet's ashes were scattered in Central Park in New York City.  On the northwest side of the park, at around 106th Street, there is an entrance to Central Park that leads up to the Great Hill.  On the east side of the Great Hill, there is a single path that splits into two.  Juliet’s ashes were spread beneath a large tree just there at that path—outside of the path that runs around Great Hill, just between that path and the new path that leads off to the east and West Park Drive.

Motherhood. Being someone's... being Abby's mommy. It's not something  that Juliet wrote a lot about... at least not in things she left behind with me. But it was central to Juliet's life since before the cancer came along and changed everything. She wanted very much to be a mother. And once Abby entered our lives and Juliet finally was a mother, she was a terrific one. Here are my thoughts and a few memories from others on Juliet as a mom:

Some friends of Juliet's wrote her before she died, trying to tell her what she had meant to their lives. Others wrote letters to me and Abby after Juliet died. Here are a few excerpts from those letters:

Juliet's students also wrote things after she died— tributes, letters to me and Abby just discussing how they felt about Juliet as a teacher, mentor, friend. The first of these excerpts though is not something written after Juliet died, but rather an essay about Juliet that a student wrote for an English class. The assignment?  Tell the class about your hero.

I hope that everyone who knew Juliet eventually finds out about this Web site and stops by to visit. And when they do, I hope that they— that you— consider leaving a message behind. Better yet, tell us all a Juliet story.  If you didn't know her, just let me know what you thought of the site by either leaving a message in the guest book or by writing me.

Here's a fun way to spread the word about this Web site. You can send Juliet in Paris postcards to your friends! Certainly, if you knew Juliet and know the email addresses of other people she knew, send them a postcard and let them know about the site. Chances are, I don't have an address for them. Spread the word!