Karen and Rick at their daughter's wedding.Today would have been Karen's 48th birthday. Karen was my very special friend. She lived in Canada and we "met" many years ago online through a penpal website called Cyberfriends.Exchanging daily emails and eventually phone calls, we rapidly became very close. Karen didn't enjoy good health and after a few years of misdiagnose it was discovered she had Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. As this can be fatal, I decided to go to Canada for a visit and flew out to Alberta for two weeks with Karen.
These were two of the happiest weeks of my life! We had such a fantastic time together.
Karen was cured of PPH when she recieved a double lung transplant but she became diabetic and of course had to take strong medication for life. But she enjoyed a period of reasonable health. We kept talking about me returning to Canada but we never managed it. Karen passed away last August 14th aged just 47.
I miss her and think of her every day. I have needed her advice so often. She was my soulmate and the sister I never had. I never truly appreciated just how much she meant to me until she was gone.I would give anything to hear her voice one more time.
I also know Karen would not want me to spend her birthday in tears! She never wasted any time being sorry for herself; she always discouraged me from wallowing in self-pity. So I'm ending this post by saying how lucky I was to have Karen as my friend, how happy she made me and how much fun we had together even when we were physically far apart. Karen, if I close my eyes I'm sitting at your kitchen table with a cup of coffee while we exchange news and gossip and have a good old giggle....
8 comments:
I remember this photograph. When I saw it just now I knew who it was. Happy Birthday Karen, wherever you may be.
Special friends are always with us m'dear - in our hearts. It's good that you are celebrating your friend's life, just as she would have wanted. xx
and she was lucky to have you
hugs to you
and to Karen's family
Such a difficult time for you. One day you'll be able to celebrate the fact that the two of you were so close and how much you enriched each other's lives. Imagine if you hadn't gone on that website what you'd have mised out on. You rou were incredibly blessed to have found each other by the sound of it. XXX
Thinking of you (both).
SS
Your friend would not want you to be sad. Try to remember the happy times and celebrate them.
It's hard for me to move on after the loss of family members or friends. Seems almost cruel that the entire world doesn't stop for a minute to honor them, but that's the way of things.
Like you, I try to think about the blessings they brough to my life.
Karen touched your life...
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