We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julie Barth. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julie below.

Alright, Julie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I grew up in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago in a small, yet not so small town. I met my husband at the age of 11 and he was my first kiss at the age of 12 after our first “date” at our grammar school fun fair. Fast forward over a decade and we married and returned to live in the same town we both grew up in. I graduated from Loyola University in Chicago, and had dreams of becoming a profiler for the FBI after obtaining a degree in psychology. As life sometimes does, my dreams were sidetracked when I found out that I was pregnant with our first son. My husband worked as a commodities trader downtown Chicago, so I had the luxury of staying home with our son. Next, came my daughter Tayt. She was born with a rare genetic condition called Primordial Dwarfism, which no one could diagnose at the time. After going to hospitals all around the country and 43 surgeries to fix the damage done at birth, she was finally somewhat on the mend.

My focus from then on was our family, being a full time nurse for Tayt, and soon we had our third and our fourth child. Colin (my husband) was a gifted trader, so I didn’t have to worry about working more than part-time gigs that I really did just to occupy myself and feel a part of the world. When our youngest was just six months, Colin was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, meaning that we had four small children, all under the age of 11, and no income at all. His salary just stopped. Because he was an independent trader, he didn’t have sick pay and our resources were slowly dwindling. I did what I could to keep our family afloat by going to thrift stores early in the morning and reselling the goods on Ebay. It was enough at the time, until we lost him after a 16 month battle. I had no job, no childcare, no work experience, four children to care for (one with special needs), and no money. I have never been so destitute on so many levels.

When Colin was sick, he wanted to write a blog on Caring Tree, which was a forum that allowed people to update loved ones when someone was sick. Soon after we joined, Colin was too sick to do much of anything, little less write a blog so I took over. I wrote faithfully sometimes for the benefit of others, but mostly for my own benefit as a way to deposit all of my feelings elsewhere as times got really unbearable. At Colin’s funeral, people told me that they wished I would continue to write. They told me that my writing inspired them, that it meant something to them, and that I should do something with it. At the time, I was too grief-stricken to even consider it.

After months of recovery, I sat down at my computer and began to write, little by little. While Colin was having chemo on Tuesdays I would sit with him and write on my blackberry. While he slept I wrote Tayt’s story, which soon flowed into real-time with Colin’s plight, and I would email it back to myself. I took all of those emails and I pieced them together. They sat as a manuscript on my computer for over a decade. In the interim, I began writing for a living. At first, I got paid like $2 an article, and with some persistence and connections, I had worked my way up to much more and I was allowed to be more selective with what I wrote about. I did a couple of commentary pieces and some fun relationship magazines, but most of what I did, I wrote under someone else’s name or on a ghost basis.

My daughter, who lost her voice, stands just four foot tall, at the age of 23, and is just over 25 pounds, was also diagnosed with cancer at the age of 13. It was a rare soft tissue cancer that she beat, but not without incident. Her entire right side torso was removed and her legs grafted to heal what was missing. Yet, she taught herself how to draw, paint, and sketch. Her paintings and sketches continued to get better. With each new creation, I saw her confidence, pride, and the joy she had when she was younger return, and I knew that it was a gift that I should share with the world.

Last year, I decided to publish my first book, the very one that I pieced together. Notes From a BlackBerry was released in April and it coincided with a website that I built for Tayt’s art pieces at Hope4Tayt.com. The two of us, along with my older daughter and daughter-in-law, have started a charity to help women in our community who are struggling with family crisis, whatever that might look like. It is my form of paying back for all the times others have helped me get my feet back on the ground when things have seemed lost. The charity is named for my late husband the CJB Outreach.

I am releasing my second book in time for Domestic Abuse month in March, which is a continuation of our story. It is called From BlackBerries to Thorns.

Julie , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I almost happened upon it, as they say. I have my first book release, Tayt’s art at hope4tayt.com our charity at the CJB Outreach, and my second book is being released in March. I pray that my experiences and inner voice will help those who are going through rough times to know they are not alone. I also want them to know that their thoughts are not only okay; they are a normal part of dealing with grief and not to be ashamed of or feel guilty for.

I am most proud of the artist and person that Tayt has become. She was never supposed to live past birth, then sit up, walk, talk, be thoughtful and she is a self-taught miraculous artist and I feel like it is a gift to the world and my duty to get it out there.

The charity, although in its infancy, I hope will be my contribution to a community and world that has always been there for me when I needed it most. I want to be that for others.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My husband fought so valiantly and so has Tayt that I feel like I was put in their path for a reason, and that is to tell the story of their strength so that others might draw strength from it. Every day Tayt is a testament to courage, resilience, and positive-thinking. I have been blessed to have her in my life to remind me of what matters and I wish to spread her message of hope with the world.

My creative journey is to spread positivity through my writings and reflections and I hope to make people feel less alone and isolated in their struggles. I have suffered terribly with survivor guilt that I didn’t even know I had. I want to ease other people’s burdens and help them to see light in the darkest of times.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

I have had several years of putting money out and wondering if it will ever come back to me. I am the head of household for four kids, one in college, Tayt (my special needs daughter), my 84-year-old mother, and four dogs. It has been hard to focus on things that aren’t paying bills and the mortgage so I almost threw in the towel about six months ago.

Tayt’s art is rough, and I knew if I wanted to make it presentable, then I would have to frame it and make it look professional, but I was quickly, if not already, running out of money. I went to a random estate sale near my house with my mother. We hadn’t gone in years together, and she out of the blue asked me to go. I was just talking about giving up and going back to internet writing only when I walked into the estate sale. In front of me were hundreds ( and I am not exaggerating) of pieces of framed art for sale. I had a feeling in my soul that it was my late husband telling me that our message is too important and to keep going with it. I purchased over 70 frames that day and the next day, the woman donated the rest to me for Tayt’s art. I have been framing her art and holding shows since.

Lastly, at that same estate sale, I went to the second floor with Tayt at my heels. Tayt was given a stuffed animal pig by Colin when she was just two. She would not have made it in and out of the hospitals that she has been to, over 52 surgeries, without “Piggy” at her side. For years, I looked to get the same pig just in case we left him somewhere, which we were blessed never to have. I could never find the exact one. When I say that the pig now is unrecognizable is an understatement. Along with the hundreds of frames, I looked to my right and there stood a fresh and brand new piggy, the exact same one, brand, only shiny and new. That was a gift from Colin telling us not to give up. I don’t usually believe in signs, but how can anyone explain that?

Contact Info:

• Website: Notesfromablackberry.com hope4tayt.com
• Instagram: @notesfromablackberry.com @hope4tayt
• Facebook: @notesfromablackberry @hope4tayt
• Linkedin: julie barth
• Other: TikTok notesfromablackberry

Image Credits

I don’t have any people that I need to include credits to