You can shed a tear that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived

You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love you shared

You can turn your back on tomorrow, and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday

You can remember her and only that she’s gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on

You can cry and close your mind
Be empty and turn your back

Or you can do what she’d want:
Smile; Open your Eyes, Love and Go On


* * *
About the Art

It was during a visit to a Cape Cod gallery in 2004 that Margaret first saw the work of Elizabeth Mumford. One painting's touching caption read: "I see the moon and the moon sees me, the moon sees somebody I want to see"...the painting returned home with the Metzlers to Mendham. But that’s not the end of the story. Margaret’s family, after seeing how moved she was by the artist's work, commissioned Elizabeth to create a special painting filled with memories of Julia’s life – Labor Day, the garden, swinging, and the love the family shared.

Julia's painting, used throughout this site, can be seen in its entirety here.

A Message from Mom
There are a few things you pray will never happen in your life or you don’t even ever imagine could happen…like losing your daughter. That is how we lived, we were lucky to have never experienced trauma or loss in our lives and then we had to live it…the most unimaginable thing happened to us…Julia died due to smoke inhalation which occurred from a tragic fire in our home that we will never understand.

We wish we had Julia back, we wish more than anything that she was here to play with, to hug, to giggle and to love. We feel her with us every day and we can remember Julia and the sweet happy times we shared as a family and with friends.

This website is about the happy times of our life with Julia, about her happiness with her life. It’s about showing you what you don’t know about her. About her magnetic personality, her intense love of us and life and of how proud we are of her, our beautiful, funny, sweet little girl and sister; Julia, Julsie, Jules, Petunia, “Little Princess”.

Make a moment in your day to remember Julia and send her your love …everyday…

Margaret
March 31, 2005