“There is no friendship, no love, like that of a mother for her child.”

I am Signe, mother of Bonnie, Bobby and Karen. It is a shock, but not a surprise to me that my youngest child, Karen, has died as the result of an automobile accident on August 16, 1998 at the age of 26 years old. Karen is my third child and after she was born I had the feeling that I had accomplished everything I had ever hoped for in life. I just wanted to be a mother, and I had three beautiful children – two daughters, with a son in between them – all born within the first five years of my marriage.

It didn’t take long to realize Karen was different than my other children. Bonnie and Bobby were very content children but Karen was the opposite. She had a curiosity that couldn’t be satisfied and she took risks regardless of the consequences starting at a very young age. She was a free spirit, bold and daring, and challenged the traditional rules of life. She was always in a hurry to get somewhere and always late getting there. It wasn’t just these personality traits that scared me, it was a mother’s instinct that I would not have Karen with me forever. Karen told me several times that she would never live until she was 30 years old, but each time I just laughed and told her that 30 wasn’t as old as she thought, but my fear was always there that she was right.

Karen’s smile is the most natural, beautiful smile possible. At her funeral, my brother said the thing he would remember most about Karen is her smile. At every family event you could hear her laughing. She had a great sense of humor and was always trying to cheer everyone up with a good joke. When she could pull something off on Bonnie or Bobby, she would laugh until she rolled on the floor. Her laughter was always reassuring that everything was okay.

Karen always reached out to help others. She offered her hand and her heart to anyone who needed it. She saw hope in the most hopeless people. Many of her friends had been in trouble with their families or with the law. She kept saying, “I think I can make a difference, Mom.” Unfortunately most of those same people used and hurt her. One even beat her on several occasions. She knew how to take care of everyone except herself. She also had many true friends that stuck by her through all the phases of her life. God bless them.

Karen’s organs were donated because we knew she would not want to pass up an opportunity to help someone else. Unfortunately, most of her organs were too badly damaged from the accident to be transplanted. Her liver was transplanted into a 22 year old female and her pancreas was transplanted into a 41 year old male. I heard January 21st that both are doing good.

“Karen, Bonnie, Bobby and me
on Bobby's wedding day.”