The Final Goodbye

Today, we said our final goodbye to Karen. Yesterday evening, a co-worker and I went to the funeral home before visitation began, to have some time without a crowd around. I was amazed at the transformation in the body. Karen looked like Karen again - the swelling was gone, and she looked at peace. Normally, I don't like "viewing" the body. But this time, I was glad. Glad that the last image we would have of her would not be one of suffering, but one of peace.

The memorial service was really nice. Members of our state office staff came from Austin and other staff came from Dallas and Fort Worth to pay their respects. Our unit members from Lubbock, Amarillo, Wichita Falls and Midland were there. Her minister spoke comforting words and read from her favorite passage - Psalm 91. She had shared that with me earlier.

The picture above, although not clear, is the picture of Karen I will remember. Laughing. She did that a lot.

But the image I will carry with me forever is this: On Sunday, when I went by the hospital for the last time, her husband told me there was a card for me from Karen. On the last day of consciousness, after she had taken care of all the details she needed to take care of with family, she had one more thing to do. And so, the last hours she had left when she could do anything, she spent in dictating thank you notes to those who had brought gifts, etc. Our office staff collectively had gotten one. It was priceless. But the one for me individually - I will treasure forever, and remember that even as she was dying, Karen's last acts were doing for others, making sure she had thanked everyone. That was Karen - thinking of others, in spite of her condition, as she did throughout her entire illness.

She taught us a lot about living in her dying. I miss her.

See this blog for my daughter's heartwarming story about Karen: http://www.rvwatson.blogspot.com/

May 17, 2006