Jewels quickly won all our hearts when she joined our online support group for stepmothers two years ago. Even though, at 18, she was our youngest member, we were amazed at her strength of will, her determination to live a positive life regardless of her disease, and her unconditional love for her family. Despite the stress and demands of being a stepparent, Jewels embraced every moment she had with Shae. Every good day included him and Ben and every bad day was when she was away from them. In the two years that we knew her, she was never bitter about her disease, she never complained about what SHE went through, and she was always more concerned about her "boys". She was a cheerleader for all of our successes and a shoulder for our disappointments. All this support she gave willingly and with such honesty of spirit.
When her friend Raymond died, she posted two pictures online, one a scene of red angry clouds, and one of peaceful blue ones. She explained to us that the red picture represented for her the battle CFers fight daily, and the blue reminded her of where people with CF end up, either at rest in peace after death or viewing the world a whole new way after receiving a lung transplant. It was her hope that those pictures would help us understand her better, and they really did.
We've had a lot of time over the last few days to talk about Jewels; her ability to give so selflessly, her amazingly strong heart, her soul as old as time for someone so young in body, and the intrinsic truth of her innate goodness. We have talked of the proof we all now have of the saying "the good die young" and how deeply our littlest member affected our lives. We've talked about how she was someone young enough to be our own stepdaughter, yet old and wise enough to be our equal. We've talked about her joy when Shae called her his "Julie-mommy" and how blessed she felt knowing Ben was the love of her life. We've talked about the sweet young woman who showed strength and courage years ahead of her time. We've talked about our teacher, our confidante, our friend.
Diva is an honorary title we give to the women in our group. Jewels was our "littlest Diva" but her heart and courage were by no means little. Her heart and that big smile were so big for her tiny frame, yet her braveness put women twice her age in awe. The lives that Jewels touched will never be the same because she was meant to touch us and move us. She was a gift to our group as well as this world. Even in the short time we were so honored to know her, we never understood how deep she would touch us or how short that time was.
Jewels taught us stepmoms all over the world the meaning of true love.
We will miss her every day.