She was like a flower...
My dad sent me another article from Jewels' school about the memorial service her roommates held.
Friends recall Miller's life
Gathering was a celebration
Allison Manning
Posted: 9/11/06
Friends, family and members of the Boston University community congregated in the Dexter Park community room Saturday to celebrate the life of College of Fine Arts student Juliane Miller, who died Aug. 31 -- five days before she was to begin her junior year.
The event, organized by Miller's roommates and College of Communication juniors Andie Adelman and Nikki Vidler, began at noon and was a revolving door of grieving friends and family sharing stories of the dynamic Miller while comforting each other over the abrupt and unexpected loss.
Friends at the gathering shared tears and laughter in between refreshments and the construction of a memory book in her honor.
"I miss her humor," CFA junior Petra Hamilton-Denison said. "It's hard to stand around and cry, but it's nice to be together."
Vidler said the number of people at the gathering was not a fluke.
"I didn't doubt it would be huge," she said. "It just shows how loved she was."
Miller's parents flew from their home in Palo Alto, Calif. to take care of their only daughter's apartment and school business. Miller's mother, Noanie Miller, began an informal receiving line with her daughter's friends, accepting condolences and compliments on raising a creative and talented daughter.
"I always used to say, you can only be a good mother if you have a good daughter," Noanie Miller said. "She was a comfortable adult. She always knew who she was."
In between conversations, friends created pages for a memory book to commemorate Miller's life. Different shades of purple paper were available for pasting pictures or writing personal letters to Miller, a theater student. Vidler said the book would be given to her parents to show how loved their daughter was during her short time at the university.
Adelman, who came up with the idea of the book, said she sifted through pictures, almost all showing Miller with an ear-to-ear smile, to create a slideshow that played throughout the gathering. A soundtrack of Miller's favorite songs accompanied it.
Noanie Miller said her daughter suffered a heart attack while on vacation with a friend in Los Angeles, researching the BU program available in the city. She was deciding between Los Angles or studying aboard in Ireland, her mother said. It was her first non-family vacation.
"She wouldn't jump into things," she said.
Miller was admitted to the Sherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks, Calif. outside Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack Aug. 22, and slipped into a coma. She died of intracranial bleeding nine days later in her mother's arms. She had no previous heart problems.
Miller was born in Hawaii three weeks early Dec. 12, 1985 because she "just couldn't wait," according to her mother, giving her the middle name "Leilani," meaning "heavenly flower."
"She stole everyone's heart," Noanie Miller said, "even the doctors at the hospital."
Noanie Miller said she and her husband were planning an around-the-world trip for her daughter's 21st birthday in December, including destinations in Australia.
"She hated flying," Noanie Miller said. "She'd always tell me, 'I'll suck it up, mom.'"
Despite the distance from her home, Miller chose Boston to begin her studies.
"She was a city girl," Noanie Miller said. "There wasn't a day that went by where she said she hated it."
Miller was accepted to other colleges and universities on the east coast, including Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. Her mother said she wrote her essay on Vincent van Gogh and received her acceptance letter to the college along with a note saying, "van Gogh would have been so proud of you."
Noanie Miller knew she wanted to act since she was 3-years-old, when her mother brought her to a children's theater performance. A "terrific writer," Miller had recently written a portion of a play she had acted in at BU. She had also been working in a theater company over the summer in her hometown of Palo Alto, Calif.
Her mother deflected pride over her daughter's accomplishments as an excellent student, compassionate friend and talented actress.
"Juliane should be proud," she said. "I never, ever asked her to please me."
Miller's mother expressed frustration at the puzzling circumstances of her daughter's death. Miller had no previous health problems that would have provoked a heart attack. She said her daughter read all of her prescription's health warnings thoroughly.
"She knew you couldn't take an antibiotic with grapefruit," she said. "Who else would know that?"
Noanie Miller said doctors did three toxicology scans, finding nothing unusual. She applauded the doctors at the Sherman Oaks Hospital, calling them some of the kindest in the world.
She also expressed gratitude toward her daughter's friends for organizing the event amid classes and their own grief.
"It was precious of [Adelman and Vidler] to do it," she said. "It's really a sisterly relationship."
Noanie Miller said she and her husband were planning to organize a foundation in honor of their daughter to help other less fortunate families with children in comas and the medical expenses associated with hospital stays. She said they would also look into funding their daughter's passion -- the arts.
"The rabbi at her funeral said she was like a flower," she said, evoking her daughter's middle namesake. "She had blossomed, touched our lives and was done."
Friends recall Miller's life
Gathering was a celebration
Allison Manning
Posted: 9/11/06
Friends, family and members of the Boston University community congregated in the Dexter Park community room Saturday to celebrate the life of College of Fine Arts student Juliane Miller, who died Aug. 31 -- five days before she was to begin her junior year.
The event, organized by Miller's roommates and College of Communication juniors Andie Adelman and Nikki Vidler, began at noon and was a revolving door of grieving friends and family sharing stories of the dynamic Miller while comforting each other over the abrupt and unexpected loss.
Friends at the gathering shared tears and laughter in between refreshments and the construction of a memory book in her honor.
"I miss her humor," CFA junior Petra Hamilton-Denison said. "It's hard to stand around and cry, but it's nice to be together."
Vidler said the number of people at the gathering was not a fluke.
"I didn't doubt it would be huge," she said. "It just shows how loved she was."
Miller's parents flew from their home in Palo Alto, Calif. to take care of their only daughter's apartment and school business. Miller's mother, Noanie Miller, began an informal receiving line with her daughter's friends, accepting condolences and compliments on raising a creative and talented daughter.
"I always used to say, you can only be a good mother if you have a good daughter," Noanie Miller said. "She was a comfortable adult. She always knew who she was."
In between conversations, friends created pages for a memory book to commemorate Miller's life. Different shades of purple paper were available for pasting pictures or writing personal letters to Miller, a theater student. Vidler said the book would be given to her parents to show how loved their daughter was during her short time at the university.
Adelman, who came up with the idea of the book, said she sifted through pictures, almost all showing Miller with an ear-to-ear smile, to create a slideshow that played throughout the gathering. A soundtrack of Miller's favorite songs accompanied it.
Noanie Miller said her daughter suffered a heart attack while on vacation with a friend in Los Angeles, researching the BU program available in the city. She was deciding between Los Angles or studying aboard in Ireland, her mother said. It was her first non-family vacation.
"She wouldn't jump into things," she said.
Miller was admitted to the Sherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks, Calif. outside Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack Aug. 22, and slipped into a coma. She died of intracranial bleeding nine days later in her mother's arms. She had no previous heart problems.
Miller was born in Hawaii three weeks early Dec. 12, 1985 because she "just couldn't wait," according to her mother, giving her the middle name "Leilani," meaning "heavenly flower."
"She stole everyone's heart," Noanie Miller said, "even the doctors at the hospital."
Noanie Miller said she and her husband were planning an around-the-world trip for her daughter's 21st birthday in December, including destinations in Australia.
"She hated flying," Noanie Miller said. "She'd always tell me, 'I'll suck it up, mom.'"
Despite the distance from her home, Miller chose Boston to begin her studies.
"She was a city girl," Noanie Miller said. "There wasn't a day that went by where she said she hated it."
Miller was accepted to other colleges and universities on the east coast, including Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. Her mother said she wrote her essay on Vincent van Gogh and received her acceptance letter to the college along with a note saying, "van Gogh would have been so proud of you."
Noanie Miller knew she wanted to act since she was 3-years-old, when her mother brought her to a children's theater performance. A "terrific writer," Miller had recently written a portion of a play she had acted in at BU. She had also been working in a theater company over the summer in her hometown of Palo Alto, Calif.
Her mother deflected pride over her daughter's accomplishments as an excellent student, compassionate friend and talented actress.
"Juliane should be proud," she said. "I never, ever asked her to please me."
Miller's mother expressed frustration at the puzzling circumstances of her daughter's death. Miller had no previous health problems that would have provoked a heart attack. She said her daughter read all of her prescription's health warnings thoroughly.
"She knew you couldn't take an antibiotic with grapefruit," she said. "Who else would know that?"
Noanie Miller said doctors did three toxicology scans, finding nothing unusual. She applauded the doctors at the Sherman Oaks Hospital, calling them some of the kindest in the world.
She also expressed gratitude toward her daughter's friends for organizing the event amid classes and their own grief.
"It was precious of [Adelman and Vidler] to do it," she said. "It's really a sisterly relationship."
Noanie Miller said she and her husband were planning to organize a foundation in honor of their daughter to help other less fortunate families with children in comas and the medical expenses associated with hospital stays. She said they would also look into funding their daughter's passion -- the arts.
"The rabbi at her funeral said she was like a flower," she said, evoking her daughter's middle namesake. "She had blossomed, touched our lives and was done."