Saturday, April 9, 2022
//s3.amazonaws.com/skins.funeraltechweb.com/tribute-gestures/Candle8.png
I have only known Karen since 2015, when I moved into the house next door. I never saw much of her, except when she would come out to attend to the bird feeder and put treats for the squirrels in the tree that borders our properties. Ironically, I had been trapping squirrels and chipmunks, driving them several miles away to release them, because they were over-running my gardens, burying nuts in my potted plants on the deck. I then gave up on that endeavor to focus on detering "Walter", a woodchuck that would cross Karen's yard, to dig holes under the fence, then feast on my vegetable garden. So, while I was always complaining about "invaders" (including deer, skunks, possums, racoons, etc.) Karen just shrugged it off. I knew from the beginning she was a kind person, futther demonstrated by the love and attention she gave her grandchildren when they came to visit and had pool parties on her back deck.
I regret I did not get to know Karen better. From reading her story, she seems to have been a remarkable person in many ways. I could sense her immense love for her husband, that being in the house he loved gave her much consolation and comfort after he was gone. To give birth to 4 children, whiling raising 4 more, is a testament to her incredible sense of morherhood and self-sacrifice. I will miss having Karen as a neighbor and the occasional exchanges we would across the fence, as it were. Her obituary is beautifully written and, for those of us who never got to know her well, offers a deeper understanding of just who Karen was.
