Joshua Williams, her husband, said the cause was metastatic colon cancer. This is another one of lifes paradoxes that you will learn to navigate. Her fathers name is Diep The Phu, later known as Peter and her mothers name is Lam Que Anh, later known as Ann. Then life intervened. I think it's a bit garish and ugly, but she loves it (laughter). When she was 2 months old, her father, Diep The Phu, who later became known as Peter, and her mother, the former Lam Que Anh, who is called Ann, took her to an herbalist in the coastal city of Da Nang with instructions from her grandmother: Kill her with one of his concoctions. Rejoice in life and all of its beauty, she told her children. And from those experiences, our souls expand and grow and learn and change, and we understand a little more about what it really means to be human. SHAPIRO: Yip-Williams wrote and recorded that letter after being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at age 37. And last, wherever I may go, a part of me will always be with you. They had two daughters, Mia and Isabelle. She had already lived an extraordinary life. You will understand that joy cannot exist without sadness. We want to take a moment now to note the death this past Monday of Julie Yip-Wlliams. Julie, her husband Josh and daughters, prior to being diagnosed Julie also describes, several times, her imaginary hatred for her husband Josh's next wife. 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. The mystery! Reading [the blogs] back then, I was almost left feeling inadequate, like: Oh my God. "How It Feels to Publish Your Wife's Memoir About Dying". As an opportunity. They were written almost as though you had just been given a goal, like losing ten pounds. Julie Yip-Williams tried to stay as present and honest as possible as she watched herself die from Stage IV colon cancer. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. In 2002, she joined the law firm Cleary Gottlieb in New York. 336 pages. Thank you for being a part of the life of our family. A young mother facing a terminal diagnosis, Julie Yip-Williams began to write her story, a story like no other. Julie underwent eye surgery at what is now the UCLA Stein Eye Institute. JULIE YIP-WILLIAMS: Dear Mia and Isabelle, I have solved all the logistical problems resulting from my death that I can think of. Join us on Monday, February 11 th at Random House for a special Big Ideas Night celebrating the late Julie Yip-Williams and her searing memoir, THE UNWINDING OF THE MIRACLE. But it would not be my choice. Not only that, but her blog also serves on love and family. Julie Yip-Williams (January 6, 1976 March 19, 2018) was an American lawyer and writer, born Diep Ly Thanh in Vietnam. She deserved something incredible, especially given the shitty hand she was dealt. [2], Yip worked in corporate law in New York City from 2002. Her family immigrated to California, where she received surgery that partially restored her sight. I mean, shit, I miss her. She graduated from Williams College in 1997 and from Harvard Law School in 2002. Julie wrote honestly and unflinchingly of her ordeal and articulated universal truths that resonate with anyone. And every time you yearn for me, it will hurt all over again and you will wonder why. Such an amazing person. You would be foolish to expect fairness, at least when it comes to matters of life and death, matters outside the scope of the law, matters that cannot be engineered or manipulated by human effort, matters that are distinctly the domain of God or luck or fate or some other unknowable, incomprehensible force. We will always remember her and will hold her in our hearts for eternity. Anyone can read what you share. In early 1979, 3-year-old Julie and about 50 members of her family boarded fishing boats from Vietnam for a monthlong journey to Hong Kong with little food or water. Julie was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer at 37but before that, she'd already dodged death. I want to say the latter stages of 2017. Although she was born with congenital cataracts and was not able to recover normal vision following emergency surgery during her early days in the United States, her limited vision never stopped her from living a rich life full of adventures and accomplishments. Thats not an emotion people want to talk about when it comes to cancer.We have an annual family vacation where we get together with my parents, my sisters, and their families. I understand. Its not just her grandmother. I believe this dream will come true. How are you and your girls? She was an incredibly adventurous person who traveled all seven continents by the time she was 30. (Of course, later on, I would study Chinese throughout college and study abroad and my Chinese would surpass my siblings.) In the years since my diagnosis, I have known love and compassion that I never knew possible; I have witnessed and experienced for myself the deepest levels of human caring, which humbled me to my core and compelled me to be a better person. Julie wanted to face her death honestly, to not live in denial of it. Her blog captured her feelings of hope, hopelessness and ultimately acceptance. Never ever forget that. (Julie Yip-Williams, with husband Josh and their two children, as shared by Penguin Random House. So many people will be talking about your wife, the mother of your children.Oh Lord. Many may disagree, but I have always believed, always, even when I was a precocious little girl crying alone in my bed, that our purpose in this life is to experience everything we possibly can, to understand as much of the human condition as we can squeeze into one lifetime, however long or short that may be. Julie was a wonderful woman. I think she was already dead when I read that post. It seems to have a life and will of its own that I cannot control through the sheer force of my mind. Julie Ly Yip-Williams. ARI. I hope the family is thriving . 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. Split Alert! Like, mommy's here, you know? Interesting Facts About HGTVs Jenn Todryk Her Age, Kids! And that there was room in the world for a blog that would actually get into the raw truth. This interview has been edited and condensed. 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. Praise for The Unwinding of the Miracle Powerful and beautiful. Diep Ly Thanh was born in Tam K, South Vietnam, the daughter of Diep The Phu (Peter Yip) and Lam Que Anh (Ann Yip). It is delightful and also shattering to the readers. Follow Julie Yip-Williams and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com's Julie Yip-Williams Author Page. Yip-Williams died on March 19, 2018, aged 42, just two months after Kagan met her. Memorial. And Belle said, what's wrong? But I would be remiss if I did not try. And I knew that it was a life goal for her. Julie went to Williams College in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard Law School. YIP-WILLIAMS: Do you love our apartment, Mia? / Julie Yip-Williams dies at 42. It made me smarter. YIP-WILLIAMS: And maybe that's, like, me being a control freak, you know? Julie did find love with her husband, Josh Williams. She died in March 2018, aged forty-two, and leaves behind her husband, Josh, and their daughters, Mia and Isabelle. With Jude Law and Jim Gaffigan as Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. But also as your mother, I want you to feel the pain, to live it, embrace it, and then learn from it. Even long after you have chosen to stop playing, I will still come to you in those extraordinary and ordinary moments in life when you live with a complete passion and commitment. Julie was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer at 37but before that, she'd already dodged death. You have your whole life to decide how you feel about this.Yeah, I was gonna say, Get back to me in 40 years, I hope. But also I think she really, really wanted to leave a tangible legacy, particularly for the kids. One year ago today, Julie Yip-Williams died of colon cancer at 42, leaving behind her husband Josh and two young daughters. Be more compassionate people because of it; empathize with those who suffer in their own ways., And, she wrote, Rejoice in life and all of its beauty because of it; live with special zest and zeal for me., Julie Yip-Williams, Writer of Candid Blog on Cancer, Dies at 42, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/obituaries/julie-yip-williams-dies-writer-of-candid-blog-on-cancer.html. And then when she got sick she started writing the blog. At her death she was forty-two, and lived in Brooklyn with her husband, Josh, and their daughters, Mia and Isabelle. We both, in different ways, are very type-A, organized people. Her husband Joshua Williams is also a lawyer. Then theres Daddy. Similarly, when your time comes, I will be there waiting for you, so that you, too, will be given what was lost to you. She had already. One year ago today, Julie Yip-Williams died of colon cancer at 42, leaving behind her husband Josh and two young daughters. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance in Julies name. But as time wore on, things got darker, in 2016, 2017. It made me think about how life carries on no matter what. Julie's older sister had been born with a mild form of congenital cataracts, and when the paternal grandmother held Julie, she realized that this baby, too, had vision problems. KAGAN: And then there are the gifts that are harder to pin down. An inspiring memoir by a young mother with Stage Four metastatic cancer, The Unwinding of the Miracle challenges the way we write and talk about death and demands you contemplate your own fragility, relationships, and how you live your one precious life. 1976 - 2018. ASTRO will continue on as a five member K-Pop group. After immigrating to America as a child, Yip-Williams underwent surgery that restored partial sight. Yip-Williams was born blind in a small village in Vietnam. She died four-and-a-half years later, leaving behind her husband, Josh, and two small daughters, 8-year-old Isabelle and 6-year-old Mia. To raise their three children, Ms. Yip-Williamss father became a wholesale vegetable buyer and her mother a manicurist. It taught me to ask for help, to not be ashamed of my physical shortcoming. Get used to it! Somehow, we grow up thinking that there should be fairness, that people should be treated fairly, that there should be equality of treatment as well as opportunity. She would go on to become a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a husband, a family, and a life she had once assumed would be impossible. 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. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. But this story isn't about the fact that Julie died. I was denied opportunities, too; I was always the scorekeeper and never played in the games during PE. degree from Harvard Law School. Julie Yip-Williams died in March 2018 of colon cancer. Live a life worth living. KAGAN: A few months before she died, Julie was talking to Mark Warren, her friend and book editor. Julie Yip-Williams on a good day, with husband Josh and their two children. Hope is a funny thing, though. That expectation must be derived from growing up in a rich country where the rule of law is so firmly entrenched. Parker Posey stars in this update of Chekhov, swapping familiar New York intelligentsia types for the Russian bourgeoisie. And we decided to do it in 2013, even though Julie had just been diagnosed with this awful disease. I knew this made her very happy. Her posthumously published book is essentially the blog she kept during those five years,. For a long time, especially in the beginning of this cancer journey, I felt that way too, but no longer. And Ill let you know when Im talking with God. So Julies parents took her back home. She graduated from Harvard Law School, traveled to all seven continents, got married and started a family. And then I will hug you and tell you how you did a great job and how very proud I am of you. She did get her vision back after her surgery but remained legally blind. Julie Yip-Williams has died on Monday at her home in Brooklyn. There she was meant to be killed with one of his concoctions. I think its such a bolt of lightning. Be stronger people because of it, for you will know that you carry my strength within you. It was, indeed, something of a miracle that she was alive at age 37 when she traveled to a family wedding and. You will feel alone and lonely, and yet, understand that you are not alone. She was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in 2013. Privacy Policy and Don't be afraid, but just feel. We were lucky because our boat did not sink as so many others did. We were lucky because our boat did not sink as so many others did, she wrote. All these choices I made for them - what to hang. This March, Jenna has chosen "Writers and Lovers" by Lily King, the author of the bestselling novel, "Euphoria," for her book club readers. She would go on to become a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a husband, a family, and a life she had once assumed would be impossible. "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. Genre. When your time comes, I will be there waiting for you so that you, too, will be given what was lost to you. But at age 37 she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. So perhaps those expectations of fairness and equity are also hardwired into the human psyche and our moral compass. I love you both forever and ever - Mommy. Julie was many thingsa brilliant scholar, a talented attorney, a fantastic writer, a lover of life who traveled to places as far-flung as the South Pole, Egypt, Jordan, Bangladesh, the Galapagos Islands, Paris, China and Vietnam, among many others, a lover of fine food, a fantastic cook who owned probably fifty cookbooks and could produce (good) restaurant-quality food, a voracious reader and yet also an avid and unapologetic binge television-watcherbut even more fundamentally, she was a loyal and loving person who put her family first. The Unwinding of the Miracle is indeed a book that recorded indelible moments that seared deep in the heart of its author. But she remained legally blind; she needed thick eyeglasses and a magnifying glass to read small print and was not able to drive. You dont have any control over that it just comes from the government. In her last months, she also made recordings for a podcast produced by Eleanor Kagan, titled Julie. Are you protective of the story in some way? ELEANOR KAGAN, BYLINE: That's Julie. (The name Yip is the Chinese equivalent, rendered in English, of the Vietnamese name Diep.). How Jon Hamm Found Love in Anna Osceola after Ending his Long-Term Relationship with Jennifer Westfeldt! CBS Sunday morning also televised her profile this month. 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. Wisdom cannot exist without suffering. She started her blog, writing about her siege with cancer, the life of struggles that began with being born blind in Vietnam, her ethnic Chinese familys escape in a fishing boat. After she will be gone, she had wanted her presence to be felt by her children while growing up. She was later recognized by the Americanized, marriage name: J. Yip-Williams. They expect it to be published later this year or early next year. Her older sister, Lyna Yip, who arrived in the United States with two of her uncles ahead of her parents, sister and brother, also had surgery to remove cataracts but emerged with better vision. Very late, very late. When I was upset about scans and stuff one time, you know, when she was 4 and I was, like, crying and - you know, on the couch and stuff YIP WILLIAMS: Mia has a question for you. Her story also attracted the attention of " CBS Sunday. Readers consider them an opportunity to safely touch the great unknown, to peer into the worst moments of a strangers life and emerge with at least a grain of reassurance that death, according to the dying, isnt as scary as we think it might be. Congenital cataracts caused her blindness, and to her paternal grandmother, the familys matriarch, the little girls condition meant that she was an unwanted burden and had no future. It isnt fair, you will cry. She was only 42 years old. "I have found the meaning and purpose I have desperately sought my entire life. Meet Julie. It is irrepressible, its very existence inextricably tied to our very spirit, its flame, no matter how weak, not extinguishable.. First and foremost, you have each other to lean on. Then, at age 37, with two little girls at home, Julie was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer, and a different journey began. 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. YIP-WILLIAMS: (Reading) I have often dreamed that when I die, I will finally know what it would be like to see the world without visual impairment. 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 . But I realized that these things are the low-hanging fruit, the easy-to-solve but relatively unimportant problems of the oh so mundane. Relief cannot exist without pain. Like, I know how they're going to react to stuff, so I want to be in control. What began as the chronicle of an imminent and early death became something much more--a powerful exhortation to the living. She later graduated from Harvard Law School, traveled the world alone, married, had two daughters and worked at a prestigious New York City law firm, only to be diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in 2013. Farewell sweet and fierce Julie - slipping the surely bounds of earth to touch the face of God. Be stronger people because of it, for you will know that you carry my strength within you. She died four-and-a-half years later, leaving behind her husband, Josh, and two small daughters, 8-year-old Isabelle and 6-year-old Mia. YIP-WILLIAMS: This apartment is the largest physical gift I could give them. And that is an incredible, beautiful, glorious thing to be able to say. Is there anything that you want people to know about Julie that they cant understand from reading this book?I think that Julie was probably the bravest person that I ever met. Retrieved 2020-07-12. All of these peoples loving energy surrounds you so that you will not feel so alone. What began as the chronicle of an. Vulture. We could not be more proud of the life she lived or the person she was. The unwinding of the miracle A memoir of life, death, and everything that comes after . I know your girls will be forever proud of her, and will feel her presence wherever they are. 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. Sometimes, when you practice your instruments, I close my eyes so I can hear better. Anytime, as a captain, you step onto someone elses crew, its never an easy dance.. 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