She had a smile of mythic proportions. She spent her adult life as a passionate educator. She loved bunnies and Farm Town. She was funny and quirky and loyal and genuine. She was a wife and a daughter and a sister and a friend.But most of all, Jewelyn was a mother. Throughout her pregnancy with her daughter Gabrielle, she and her husband Philip looked to the future with excitement and hope. She went into labor on her due date, September 26, 2009, and constantly updated her friends throughout. She was thrilled to finally be welcoming Gabrielle into the world.

Jewelyn made the ultimate sacrifice when she passed away the day after Gabrielle was born. She suffered an amniotic fluid embolism shortly after Gabrielle’s birth and was taken off life support the following day, September 27.

In the wake of her death, Jewelyn’s friends rallied for support, setting up The Jewelyn Okamoto Memorial Fund for her husband and daughter. Word of the tragic loss of this young, kooky, kind woman spread rapidly across the internet. Thus this blog was born as a way to celebrate Jewelyn’s life.

Here you will also find pertinent information for donations, as well as updates and pictures of Jewelyn’s much loved and anticipated daughter, Gabrielle.

Jewelyn never had a chance to hold her daughter or to grow old with her husband, and that is a tragedy none of us will ever begin to understand. But she was an eternal optimist, and she believed that no matter what, everything would be okay. Even though she left us far too soon, we have to trust that Jewelyn was right – that someday, some way, we will be okay again.