Bloomberg published a profile of Julie De Rossi, a world music promoter from Houston who was killed two years ago by a drunk driver and whose achilles tendon helped repair Carson Palmer’s torn knee ligaments. It’s a fascinating read, and it should make you consider becoming an organ donor yourself.
De Rossi’s family, meeting in Houston last month, swapped stories about Julie that left them laughing out loud. They described her as good-hearted, loving and generous.
Son Aaron, studying at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, says his mother once returned home from a trip during a flood and, after meeting a woman stranded by high water, thought nothing of taking her home.
Another time, he says, De Rossi followed a former girlfriend who had broken his heart and ordered her to stay away from her son.
And no one could forget the time she went to Jamaica and called Aaron from the beach to announce that she had just eloped with her third husband. Surprise.
“You never knew what to expect from Mom, but I always knew that she loved me very much,” Aaron says.
Julie’s sister, Karen, 43, a corporate marketing consultant in Houston, remembers when the family vacationed in Germany and her then-16-year-old sister conspired with a bellhop to help them sneak out for a beer at a nearby bar.
“She was always a risk taker,” Karen says. “Afraid of nothing.”
John Nova Lomax of the Houston Press wrote this about De Rossi after her death:
De Rossi was a lady of great style, class and honesty. She had a keen sense of fairness and very big ideas. Just before she died, she was plotting starting up a yearly international music festival to rival, and she hoped one day surpass, the Houston International Festival.
“She was always there for the bands she believed in,” says Grupo Fantasma guitarist Adrian Quesada. “She had nonstop energy about her favorite bands. And a lot of what she did, she did out of love for the music.”
I can dig that. Of course, despite being a fan of world music, one of her favorite songs was “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child — which seems strangely appropriate now, actually…
De Rossi was not a sports fan, and her family said she wouldn’t have recognized Carson Palmer if she bumped into him in the street. Suddenly, though, the hopes of Bengals fans everywhere are resting on the organs she donated to Palmer after her death. Funny how life works out, isn’t it?
2 responses so far ↓
1 Karen Abercrombie // Aug 11, 2006 at 8:36 am
Dave, ran across your blog regarding my sister, Julie, and her donation to Carson. It is truly amazing how life works out. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts about this story.
2 Julie De Rossi // Sep 18, 2006 at 9:08 am
I must say it was very strange, eerie actually to read the articles about a person with exactly the same name as myself ( except that this is my real birth name ). I even read that she was apparently born in Sept 1959. My birthday is Sept 5, 1959. I’ve always somewhat considered organ donation, but reading the article has solidified in my mind the need to do this. Since I have no children, I can only hope that the name Julie De Rossi will help many more people in future and live on in this meaningful way.