In the arms of angels

If you ever met her, you probably never forgot her.  She was a one of a kind.  She was a fighter.  She was a dreamer.  She was my friend and I miss her dearly.  Karen Lane Nance left this world August 27, 2009 after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer.  I have known Karen for many years and then had the pleasure of working with her for nearly 8 years.  We ate lunch together almost everyday.  I loved to make her laugh.  She would light up my day when I heard her laugh.  I could talk all day long about Karen and tell you all about her cancer and how it came back after she beat  it 10 years before.  I could tell you about her dying and the long suffering she endured, but today I'm not.  Today, I'm going to tell you about how she lived.  She had such a passion for life.  When she loved you, you knew it and she wasn't afraid to tell you.  She loved her family much more than we will ever know.  This time of year was her favorite, she loved to open the windows and let the fresh air in.  She loved her flower beds and Italian creme cake.  She loved old Victorian houses and soft p.j.'s.  She loved Christmas morning and making all the food for the family feast.  Then she loved to gripe about how nobody appreciated all the hard work she put into it.  She loved to look at my scrapbooks and I loved for her to because she always took her time and noticed every single detail that I put into them.  She loved to put her sunroof back and feel the wind blowing in her hair.  She loved chicken quesadillas and Dr. Peppers with VERY LITTLE ICE.  She loved Grey's Anatomy and talking about it on Monday mornings.  She loved to decorate and loved to tell people how they should decorate.  She loved her friends and she loved to help anyone out when she could.   When I look back on the many years I knew Karen, what I think she loved most was just living.  She loved being alive and experiencing each day as it came.  The details that filled her day weren't nearly as important as the people in it.  She knew what life was really about and she lived like it. 

After she died, I dreamed about her often.  I was always telling her something in my dreams.  I think if I could tell her something now, it would be "Thank You!".  I'd thank her for all the wonderful memories and times we laughed until we cried.  I'd mostly like to thank her for showing me that life is short and not to take it for granted. 

Karen loved Heath. Her son, Brandon, and Heath were childhood friends.  Heath spent many days at her house and Karen bossed him just like he was her own.  She loved to see him grin and always made him hug her neck anytime he saw her.   His accident happened two days before the one year anniversary of her death.   I will always believe that Karen was there at that location acting as one of Heath's guardian angels guiding him to that house in the dark. She's now in the arms of angels, but for one night I think she became one.  I'd like to thank her for that too. 

                           Karen Lane Nance 
           October 24, 1964 - August 27, 2009

Happy birthday, I've missed you everyday. 

'Til Tomorrow!