Julia Erickson:
CLASS OF 1976
Leonia High SchoolClass of 1976
Leonia, NJ
Smith CollegeClass of 1980
Northampton, MA
Julia's Story
Life
Live now in Maplewood NJ one house away from my twin sister Alana and her family (husband Rick and daughter Julia (4) , and until June 29, 2005, son David). David was six when he died from brain cancer after a two year battle. I'm Julia's "almost mom" and also am very close to my 13 year-old niece Ana, who is my brother Ron's daughter with his wife Laura (living in Bogota NJ). Brother John and his wife Susi also have a daughter, Helen, who's 3 and they live in Colorado. My 25 year career has been in non-profits with a 4 year stint in NYC government. Most important job was as Executive Director of City Harvest in NYC, where I spent 11 years building an organization capable of helping to feed some 265,000 people every week through local soup kitchens and food pantries. I went to Smith College and graduated with a bachelor's in political science, and spent one year in the PhD program at U of Wisconsin-Madison where I taught women's studies, drank too much and ended up leaving after a year. Through contacts of my father, I got a job as a fundraiser for a non-profit in the South Bronx where I spent 3 years. Initially, I lived with my parents but moved into the city to an apartment in the Village about the size of my bedroom in Leonia. Then I moved to another apartment on West 10th Street, where I lived for the next 18 years, for a total of 20 years in the Village. I got two rescued cats, Simon and Bea...Expand for more
trice, who lived to be 18 1/2 and 16 1/2 respectively. I stopped drinking, made tons of friends, had lots of fun, traveled to Europe a few times, went to Australia, walked to work most of the time - I loved it! Until 9/11. I spent a lot of time at Ground Zero because City Harvest helped feed the rescue workers, and my apartment was directly in the path of the smoke plume. When I started coughing and dreaming of spirits and ghosts, it came to me that I needed to leave. So I lived with my folks for a year, during which time I bought my house and fixed it up. I've been in it now 3 years. My health got strained when I had Lyme disease that wasn't properly diagnosed for about 5 years. By the time it was, I had to take a solid 3 months off work and ended up recovering thanks to herbs, juicing, swimming, rest, vitamins, and various alternative approaches. Subsequently, I had neck surgery to remove bone spurs that caused me to lose the use of my right arm, lower back surgery to return my right leg to functionality, and a hip replacement. I am now in pretty much full working order! Love life has been spotty - one 5 year relationship, some 2-3 year ones, shorter ones. Don't have a partner now, and am fine with it (except when I have to do all the home repairs myself or beg my brother to come and help!). I eat dinner every night with my sister and her family, so I have a family. And I love living in Maplewood!
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