The Journal Times

Sara just emailed me a link to this page where people have been compiling their memories of Grandma. So nice to know that others love her with the same passion that I do. I didn't want to lose these words, so I thought I would post them here so we would not forget that there were friends who loved her too.

You might need a tissue for this! :)



Remembering Julie Carpenter
Posted by: Mike Moore on March 13, 2008 at 4:34PM EST

This post was compiled by those who knew Julie Carpenter, who died last week:

I met Julie Carpenter while we were lying side by side on treatment tables at the chiropractor. I noticed the beautiful watercolor sitting next to her & told her my then, 91-year old, mother just moved in with us and also was a watercolorist. Julie invited us to join The Gathering, an artist open studio that met weekly to paint, share, and enjoy art together. This was my introduction to watercolor and it also gave my mother a wonderful outlet to continue her artistic growth and meet new friends. If it were not for Julie’s inspiration & leadership of this group, I would never have become an artist. She was also an absolute blessing for my mother, now going on 95, who paints 10 to 14 hours a day. My mother, Jane Lenz, said it best, “once you met her, you knew you would be friends forever”.
Julie was a “giver”. She taught in everything she did. She would always do a demonstration or two at every painting session. She also encouraged those of us who were “beginners” to share what we were learning, allowing us also to contribute. She always said she was not the “leader” or “head” of our group, but we all knew better. She was the ultimate leader and mentor. Her sense of fairness, and uncanny ability to know & understand what was right for our group was astounding. We always deferred to her knowing she knew best.
Aside from being a wonderful mentor for our artistic lives, Julie was also a role model for the rest of our lives. Her volunteer work inspired all of us to share our good fortune and give back to the community for our many blessings. In particular, Julie showed us how to live and die with cancer. Dignity is an often used word, but Julie personified it.
We miss her dearly. When we look at a beautiful sunset or landscape, be assured that Julie and our friend Ken Weeden, who also passed this winter, had a hand in choosing the colors. We also look to their guidance from above to continue on with the work we do through the Gathering.
Judi Greenwood and Jane LenzBurlington
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We had the privilege of meeting Julie at The Gathering's first Miniature Art Show shortly before she was diagnosed. Upon hearing of our interest in art and, knowing we had no background or experience in it and had just begun taking watercolor classes, Julie invited us to participate in The Gathering's weekly painting sessions. Realizing how intimidating it could be in the company of talented artists, it was Julie's enthusiasm that convinced us to join the Group. It was Julie's passion for art and all of life's beauty that inspired her to form The Gathering to give 'artists' like us the opportunity to share and learn from each other. We have Julie tothank for the inspiration and encouragement she has given us, and for introducing us to a wonderful group of people who have become our friends and mentors.Marcy & Dick GayRochester
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I admired Julie's talent as an artist and her generosity in sharing her talent with everyone. I'll never forget watching Julie help her young neighbor boy with his painting skills and the painting demonstrations she did for the benefit of all of us who came to 'The Gathering'. Julie used her time to help others by organizing 'The Gathering' for people who enjoy painting and although she always said she was not our 'leader', she provided the leadership that was invaluable.
Julie also gave her time to others by working at Love, Inc. where she helped those less fortunate in the community.
And Julie found ways to help her family cope with and understand Autism, which afflicts her grand-daughter.
I feel sad that Julie has left us too soon, but glad that she left us with good memories and qualities to which we can all aspire.
Kay PricePark City, Utah------------------------------------------------------
Julie was my mentor.
She was a true blessing in my life she helped me to discover a hidden talent within myself and encouraged me to continue and to share that talent with others who wanted to paint and those who just wanted to enjoy art.
Julie’s life besides family was art and she wanted to share her gift to the world
And she did that by forming a group called The Gathering which brought all of us artists together not only for Art and sharing but for lifetime friendships.
Thank You Girlfriend……..
Ps Knowing Julie I‘m sure she met up with other Great artist we lost in 2007 Ken Weeden and they starting The Heavenly Gathering.
Save us some seats in the future!
Geri BradyBurlington
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Julie was a wonderfully talented artist, but it was her modesty and generosity that impressed me. Most friends know nothing of her career as an executive in the banking world. Julie quietly volunteered at Love, Inc. She formed The Gathering, a workshop for artists, where she freely shared her expertise with those not as skilled. Then she recruited those artists to donate paintings for Love, Inc. benefits. Julie purposely remained behind the scenes, the mark of a true lady.
Vera FroschBurlington
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Always ready to teach someone a new technique, from a humble standpoint.
Always encouraging someone to "just do it", and to do their best.
Always "up", even after the bad news about her health.
Always willing to go the extra mile for a good cause.
Always ready to share whatever she had.
Always ready to listen.
Always positive.
I will miss her dearly.
Sue AlbyBurlington
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I find it hard to put in a few words what friendship with Julie meant to me. Anyway--that dear lady can be remembered for many things in our community. And what a spirit she had! She was the quintessential entrepreneur and because of that talent our open studio " The Gathering" thrived. The words, "hard work, artistic talent, caring", all easily come to mind, but for me personally I will always remember Julie's unfailing generosity, and the wonderful comfort and joy of our Friday morning "spiritual coffees" at "Veronico's". She will always live in my heart.
Marilyn AhlerLyons
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Julie Carpenter's funeral was beautiful in it's simplicity and reverence; but sad in it's necessity.
Julie's accomplishments were many, and she did them all with love and dedication. Art was her love, but her passion was the artists. That passion developed into "The Gathering", an accumulation of artist and artist wannabe's brought together to paint and share the knowledge and magic of paint, paper and water.
She so wanted to see Burlington have an art gallery/workshop studio. She wrote letters to the City officials, and was saddened by the fact that not one replied - no letter, no phone calls. But she never gave up the dream.
And so we persevere without our mentor, our force, our leader. But, we will go on and "The Gathering" will continue the magic.
Nancy Welch
Burlington, WI
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I feel such a loss. I was looking for inspiration among my photos the other day, and came across an envelope with photos of Julie and I that had been taken at some of the classes we had taken together. I think I cried looking at them. It was the day she died although I did not know it at the time. Maybe she was telling me she was still around in all our hearts. I know she will not be forgotten in mine.How nice that so many people came to the funeral. I was inspired by her example to push for a painting group here, and we now have a small one in the basement of one of the churches. So far about 5 people come on a regular basis, and we do a lot of painting. We pass on tips to each other and have a great time. A small group is fun although it is too small if a couple cannot come for one reason or another.I also have a couple of the little paintings that we did at workshops and she gave me. One was done at Pat Nortons class where she became re-inspired after returning from Chung kai kees class and was sure she could not paint any more. I remember her on her hands and knees under the table splashing paint about and really enjoying the experience. We both had a good laugh about that and talk of it often in later groups. Funny how little things can mean so much.Heddys StevensonSault Ste Marie, Ont, Canada

Carrie's finds (emails from the vaults)

Written June 25, 2006

The paragraph of my life!!! Will look for books for you. I love to do it. Makes me feel valuable. Love, GC

From C. S. Lewis, " Yielding to a Pursuing God".

" The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure , and merriment He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest in this world and pose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with friends, a date or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."


Written Oct. 4th, 2006

Carrie, Here is a prayer I wrote a long time ago.
Thought you might get a kick out of it. GC

When I pray in the morning
and ask the Lord what chores He has for me,
I always forget that what's in the present moment is the answer.
What He wants is right there before me.
It would help though, if He would just send me an email.
As soon as I say, thy will be done......off I go
As I tear through life and tear I do,
I hope and pray that it is what He wants.
At the end of this road
As I run toward heavens gate
With my clothes tattered and torn
My knees all skinned up
Huffing and puffing and my hair all eskew
The Lord will meet me and I will say,
Did I do ok
and He will pat me on the head and tell me
You did just fine.

Adrienne's and Dan's thoughts

When I think of Grandma Carpenter, I think of kindness and support.

I think of kindness because I can’t think of a cruel word she’s ever spoken. Criticism - yes, but harshness - no. Always wanting to push me to do my best, she never held back her point of view for my improvement. I remember on many occasions giving her some drawings or paintings I had done and she made it her duty to study them and find my flaws – not to humiliate me, but so that I could be aware of their presence. Then, she would show me new techniques for shading, texturing, etc. She would proudly display her won artwork and tell me of her experiments and things her teacher had taught her. I remember being stunned several times to hear that someone who had been painting so long still had a teacher. Thus, I was humbled and encouraged further. This isn’t to say the criticism never hurt, but it’s far better than never maturing or realizing your flaws.

I also think of support because I knew she believed in me. I know this because she bothered to study my artwork at all, and also (most importantly) because of the care packages she sent. For years, I received boxes of paint, charcoal pencils, drawing pads, instruction books, brushes and some of her own paintings. Again, she would never have done this if she hadn’t believed in me, and when I got discouraged or if someone hated my work, this was often the push that kept me trying again.

I grew up with these nuggets of her personality in my heart and mind, but I saw her in a new light only three years ago. Dan, Elisha and I went to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for Christmas, and we all sat around in their living room opening presents. Grandma sat on the fireplace hearth watching all of us open our gifts. She waited until we were done to start opening hers. As she did, everyone stopped what they were doing to watch her. We were all seated in a semi-circle around her, most of us on the floor looking up at her. And as she was the focal point, I remember thinking to myself that she had ascended to a place of being a beloved matriarch. I felt myself long to be precisely where she was at that moment (in about fifty years).
- Adrienne Michelson

When I think of Grandma Carpenter, I’m just very thankful to have known her for the short time that I did. I liked simply sitting around her kitchen having good conversations. I loved hearing her stories. Her art always made me appreciate a simpler life. She left us a legacy that we can look up to.
- Dan Michelson

Anne's thoughts

Grandma taught me to love poetry before I learned to hate it and learned to love it again, and she had no idea. I couldn't have been more than 10, and I loved to look through all the books on her bookshelf. One little book, a battered little thing with ugly woodcut drawings for pictures, came to continually fascinate me. It was Francis Thompson's "Hound of Heaven," and I loved the words without understanding them, read them over and over, tried to trace them in my memory. Little did I know how this poem would capture my relationship with God and that I needed to live the words to understand them. Grandma noticed my fascination with the book one day and told me to keep it. I didn't understand the importance of the event until later and she didn't realize the depth of this interchange, either. But that was her. She gave without manipulating the results.

Beth's thoughts

It is hard for me to pick a single story that can in any way summarize the relationship that I had with Grandma. It was the little things that always made me feel special. Grandma made me feel loved every time that I spoke with her and saw her. She knew just what to say to make me feel like I was succeeding, no matter how much I struggled with what to do with my life. She always told me that she loved me, was glad I was happy, and most of all, that she was proud of everything that I did. I always knew how much she loved me, because Grandma made a point of telling me that every time she got the chance.

Beth Carpenter

Patrick's thoughts

"Draw What You See"

I’ll never forget my confusion upon reading that quote. While I appreciated the sketchbook that my grandmother had given me, I couldn’t understand the meaning behind those words. Wasn’t art supposed to be about imagination- the projection of dreams onto an otherwise uninteresting reality? Nevertheless, I followed the advice of my artistic mentor and began to replicate everyday objects on the blank pages of my book. Although my days as a young artist have long since past, the lessons my grandmother imparted to me continue to reside in my heart. Now, as I reflect on those days, I think I have a better sense of what she meant by "Draw What You See." Art, in its purest form, is about seeing the beauty in all things- even the seemingly mundane. It was this skill that made my grandma who she was- a gifted artist, but more importantly, a loving human being.

Sara's thoughts

I have so many memories and lessons learned from Grandma. I looked up to her, admired her and just loved being in her company. I could tell lots of great stories, but I’m going to share just two of my favorite.

Red Rose Tea
I will always associate Red Rose Tea with Grandma. When I was about 10 years old, I started going to my Grandma’s house on Saturday mornings. She was working at the time, so Saturday was cleaning day, and I would come help. We would chat all the while we were dusting, washing floors and doing dishes. Then, when we needed a break, Grandma would make Red Rose Tea and we would sit by the fireplace drinking tea out of pretty tea cups. That image of us sitting in front of the fireplace drinking tea is one of the images that come to my mind whenever I think of her.

Sleepovers with my "Cool Grandma"
My best friend growing up in Crystal Lake was Megan. She was like another member of my family. And, we loved having sleepovers at Grandma’s house. Grandma got right into it like she was a teenage girl, too. We’d watch movies and eat junk food and laugh. One particular night, she had let us pick the movie to rent and we chose Silence of the Lambs. I remember Grandma looking at it and saying, "I like Anthony Hopkins. He’s a good actor, so I’ll bet this is good." Little did she realize that she would be curled up on the side of her bed, peeking over the edge, shocked at the gruesome movie. She watched the whole thing, though. She kept saying, "I’m a cool Grandma. I can handle this!" She sure was!!
So much of who she has been has shaped the kind of person that I want to be. She was an individual. She was a wife, a mother, an artist, an entrepreneur, a student, a teacher, a volunteer and more.

Sara Burhans

love

"i understand love better today than i did when i married him."

my journey with grandma has had so many wonderful turns. we travelled in europe (and fought like sisters). she taught me to knit. she encouraged me to quit a job that was, as she said, sucking the life out of me. she often told me to "put on my patience pants". she instilled in me a love of peanut butter. we would sit together and talk about faith, and come up with ways to get grandpa to take us out on the pontoon boat.

but the most significant thing we ever talked about was love. she knew me. she knew what i needed to hear, and she took the time to say it. several years ago she told me that her biggest prayer for me was that i would "get drunk and fall in love". if you knew her, you could hear those things coming out of her mouth. what she wanted for me, more than anything, was to stop overthinking and truly enjoy the journey of falling in love. she told me, "dating should be fun, not such hard work". those are words i've come to live by.

but i know love more true because of the relationship that grandma and grandpa have had. just this last summer we had a long talk, on one of our trips to town, about how much her love for grandpa has grown through all of these years. they definitely had their hard times, but in her last year of life, she grew to know love better because of her relationship with him. i will never forget the "jule" or the "neal" being yelled across the living room. but i will also never forget that she often called him her boyfriend, and he often called her sweetheart. as a testimony to the way she lived life and grew as a person, she told me that at 75, she understood love better than she ever had before.

i hope that i will grow to be just like her. i hope that i will grow to love the way she did.