Oh what a loss though also, perhaps, a deliverance from her many aches and pains. She told those of us who enjoyed her visits here the DC area that she would stop coming down to stay with us any more because it was just too taxing. We all regretted it because she was such good company.

On her visits, would head off with her to the Parkway Deli and laugh and have pretend food fights and other goofy things. Karen could be an amazingly good singer and had a fine handful of songs under her belt I remember her performing one and bringing Sandy Paton to tears-- she sang, true, sincerely, and without artifice.

Karen was also a book hound who loved collecting and singing old gospel tunes. Many years ago, when she was just latching on to the folk community and vice versa, I remember her selling leather work as a crafter. Somehow that disappeared. She did good if sometimes wearing jobs when she could work: crisis outreach on the phone, work with foster children, some sort of social work after Katrina that took her to New Orleans-- she didn;t talk a lot about that part of her life, but when she did you knew she took it seriously and cared a lot about helping people. That's just a little bit of the way she was and we will miss her so, so much!

--Lisa Null