Share your memories of Karen

[dg90001]

Linda, I firmly believe Karen is still here with us in very powerful ways! Since Karen’s passing there have been many times I felt she has been around me and I find it comforting.

Oh the memories…Gosh I could go on for ages! Nightly chats on TMS & THR., Playing Hot Seat, long phone calls, so many laughs. My time with her has been so true, honest, raw and so so much fun!

I have to say my fondest memory is when we were in Maryland. We hadn’t traveled to the same Taylor shows in a while….and then came Maryland. We all had a great Frau fest in the hotel lobby. Actually I believe it was the ‘first official Frau fest”. As time went on everyone started to call it a night.

In the end it was me, Kathy, and Karen yapping, laughing and having a blast in the lobby/breakfast area! We had no clue how many hours passed until an entire girls soccer team came down for breakfast at 7am…

Imagine the faces of those young girls and escorts to find three Adult women sitting at a table with four bottles of Liquor / wine, wearing last night’s clothes at sitting in the breakfast area! OMG did we laugh about that!

I cherish the times I was blessed to have Karen in my life and I miss her more than I can express in words.

[Legacy]

I believe people come into your life for a reason. It may be for something as awe inspiring as love, or as simple as a smile on a day you need one. They may be there to inspire, heal, bring hope, teach a lesson, etc. After reading this post I think Karen touched many lives for many reasons. And after a few of our late night conversations I know that many touched hers and gave her hope, smiles and laughter when she had some really dark days in her life.
I have thought about Karen so much over this past year. She seems to continue to be a presence in my life.... Her picture will often pop up on my facebook page, I will read old threads in various Taylor blogs and see posts that she made. Someone will put up a random tweet about her. And recently I was cleaning up my email account and there was an email from her that I saved. After reading this "tribute" here again tonight I did something that Karen was pushing me to do. I reread that email, and followed her step by step, very detailed instructions and bought a domain name from go daddy, I then went to Bluehost and opened a host account with them, after that I installed Wordpress.com onto the host site and created a blog for myself. I would not have had a clue how to or where to go to set this up - but Karen did the homework for me and wrote it all down in the most simple of languages so that I could understand it. I am stuck on creating the heading and the pretty part of the blog, there were no how to instructions for that. In that email Karen told me that there were enough Taylor Hicks blogs and to make my blog about something I loved, write about the things that drifted around in my head. So that is what I am going to do. I am sure I will mention Taylor from time to time, but I want to write about family, and friends, home and music, and great books I have read, and the unique people I meet along my life journey. Karen and I had a long and chatty conversation one night about fashion, and how the media dictates our taste in fashion. Karen had a unique style and that conversation was one of those who we are at our core talks. So I have to have a little fashion on there just for Karen.
I must have mentioned to her at some point that I did not think anyone would read the stuff I wrote - so I did not see a point in creating a blog that I rambled and wrote on, because in that email she told me that yes there would be at least one person who would read it ... she would.

[Wait4it]

Linda, what a beautiful photo of Karen!!! And yes, her light is most certainly a presence in the lives of those she touched.
Her stunning eyes remind me of a story she told me about one of her first encounters with Taylor. She attended one of T's first post Idol appearances on the Today show back in '06. Taylor was making his way down the spectator barricades signing things in his typical evasive yet charming way. When he got to Karen he paused, looked up and said "Hello, bright eyes". They exchanged a few more words and he began to move on. She then added, "Nice socks". He came back to her and whispered, "Borrowed 'em." (God, I hated those brown striped monstrosities!).



Jody, what a fabulous vision Karen had for you! The blog sounds like a perfect outlet for your southern driftings. I will be a faithful reader once it's up and running.

[Mac]

The first time I met Karen in person was at the NESP get together in Wrentham in 2008. I had some interaction with her at TMS through our fanfic, but had never met her. That weekend was so much fun. Just the girls getting together without having a show to run to. We took over the lobby to drink and watch Taylor play basketball.



The next day, everyone did their own thing and then got together for dinner.





I think the restaurant's cook had a great time that night!



But the beginning of our greater interaction and friendship was Maryland. I got to meet her wonderful husband, Ken, for the first time. He hugged me like we had known each other forever. That night after the show, a dozen or more of us got together in the lobby of the hotel. The numbers kept decreasing, and eventually there was just Kathy, Denise, Liz, Karen and myself. Ken called Karen a couple of times to see if all was okay with us. It surely was. I can honestly say I had never laughed so hard in my life. I remember Kathy telling us about when she and Denise saw Taylor in Pala. She kept saying what sounded like Chicken Pala. Karen turned to me and said "Chicken Pala, must be a new dish." I completely lost it! At about 5am they started to set up for breakfast and moved us, and our alcohol to a table by the wall. At around 6, a high school swim team came down, chaperones and all. We would start to get loud again, or swear and one of us would just say "ssshhh!" Never lasted for long and we'd start up all over again. I think it was 7 or 7:30 when we headed to our rooms. That night because known as the first Fraufest. Because one of the things we did that night was embrace the word Frau. We decided we were going to wear the title proudly!

After Birmingham, Karen would Facebook message me nearly every morning when she saw I had logged on at work. We would chat for a while and she would say she felt bad keeping me from my work. I didn't care. She had so much stress in her life and if she needed to talk, I wanted to be there to listen. We would also get each other going on twitter. She had such a quick wit and a such a creative way of looking at things and expressing herself. There were so many days when we had each other crying. She'd message me and say thanks for playing with me for a while, I needed it.

Losing anyone you care about is hard to fathom. The loss of such a bright light in so many lives is just impossible to grasp. I do feel she's with me all the time. And I see the little pieces of her that she has left in all of us so that bright light shines on.

[Mac]

Jody, I can set you up with a blog. Just say the word!

[Wait4it]

Thank you for that, Tricia. This thread has helped me get to know more about the beautiful spirit of Karen through all of your recollections.

[tishlp]

Unfortunately I never got to meet Karen, but I do remember some of her wonderful pictures. She was a wonderful friend to a lot of people.

Jody, I would definitely be a loyal reader of your blog when you get it going.

[UHadMeAtWooHoo]

Jody, can't wait to read the blog! Karen was right on target with her vision for you

Thanks for all the great pics-remembering very happy times!

Our basketball weekend always cracked me up. Friends couldn't believe that not only had I met all of you through Taylor, but that we had gotten to the point where we were getting together without even seeing Taylor