Julie Jacqueline Bethune

She was Jacqueline or Jax to me.  Sometimes in my head I thought of it as “Jacques-eleene!” which was her impression of her French teacher from Bishops saying it. When I met her though, she was Julie. High school. Fall of 1980 and her dorm room was across the hall from mine. Oddly though, I barely remember her from those three years! She specifically remembered sharing a New Testament class with me and arguing with me over something. Which sounds about right because Jax looooooved to argue!  But otherwise we moved in completely different social and academic circles. To me back then, she was the loud party girl 🙂 All I know is that somehow, in 2000, we both, on a lark considering we had never done this, attended an alumni luncheon at Bishops. A lunch with the headmaster. A couple of others from our rather small class of ’83 were there, but she and I ended up next to each other. The connection was instant. Ironically after she finished college she had settled into a life VERY geographically close to mine and how we had not bumped into each other until then, I do not know. But after that fateful luncheon we were connected by the phone line and email and Thanksgiving or Christmas and Jimmy Buffet concerts and Michael Moore and George Clooney movies and brunches at Ts Cafe. We talked/argued religion and politics..oh yes, we hit the “forbidden” topics regularly and we didn’t agree all the time by a long shot and that’s what made it fun for both of us. True love eluded her, but she yearned for it. I know it’s a cliche, but yeah, her dog was a very able substitution. Especially working from home as she did for so much of the time I knew her, he was a fantastic companion.

Look up the description of Taurus in ANY astrology book and her picture should be next to it. Passionate, articulate, empathetic, obstinate, opinionated, brash, prone to embellishments or flat out inaccuracies to make her point, quick to laugh, art lover, music lover, tv lover, movie FANATIC, adoring mom to Bailey, a Beagle with ‘issues’, sensitive, quick to judge, often battling depression and anxiety because her deep well of empathy would overwhelm her, beach lover, traveler, communicator and above all else, a fantastic friend. I will forever cherish the nearly 10 years we had together.