Goodbye for now Karen...

In recent months my good friend Karen has been waging a battle against colon cancer.  Sadly, she lost that battle last Friday.

Karen and I "met" on eBay in the 1990's when I bought a doll dress from her.  She lived in Atlanta and I lived in Texas, but the distance didn't seem to matter.  We had much in common.

I think I was the one that told her about the Yahoo Ginny Doll Group.  We had both grown up playing with the Vogue Ginny Doll back in the 1950's and became active members of this group for a while.  In fact, when the group decided to do a "12 Star Plan" and have different members sign up to make an outfit each month Karen talked me into taking September.  I do not enjoy sewing, but her enthusiasm was catching and I made the commitment.  Karen signed up for January and made an adorable ice skating outfit.  I will always treasure that outfit and the other things she sewed for my dolls.

I sent this picture to her when I knew her life was winding down.  I dressed a group of my dolls in the outfits she had made for me.  It made me somehow feel closer to her.  The doll on the left is wearing the outfit I originally bought from her on eBay.  It's made out of an old embroidered quilt top.  Karen loved old quilts.

In fact, eventually Karen's interest in quilts intensified and her interest in dolls waned a little.  She still loved her dolls, but she loved quilting more.

We had more in common than dolls and our friendship continued to grow over the years.  When my life took a tail spin Karen understood.  She accepted the fact that my life had changed and was always there to lend support.  Then in recent months Karen's life took a tail spin.  Anyone that has ever dealt with the "Big C" knows what I mean.  Cancer is a series of emotional ups and downs.  One minute things seem to be going great and the next minute everything can come crashing down.  You're always hoping and praying things will end on a high note, but there's no guarantee. That's the world of cancer.  I like to think that the experience I've had with my family helped me support Karen through her recent trials.  Only when you've dealt with cancer first hand do you really have an idea of what someone else is going through.

This past year Karen had a book published.

Right around the time the book was published she was diagnosed.  What should have been a really happy time for her was clouded with the cancer diagnosis.  If you're interested in quilting her book is available on Amazon.  She was a very talented person.

I wish this post could have had another ending.  I miss you Karen!