Karen was a dear friend in middle and high school. She made those complicated and often times confusing days of growing up, so much better. I always felt braver when I was with her! I looked through my year books as Karen always had something great to say. In 10th grade she wrote..."you are my best friend so of course I am the first to sign the book. I hope we will be friends always.....also remember that we'll be the last of our kind." And how true that was. Karen was unique and I have never met anyone else quite like her! So how lucky am I? In our senior yearbook she wrote, "It will be hard to forget all the good and bad times we went through. Now that they are over, we can laugh about all of the stupid things we did. Too bad good times aren't as easy to have as they were." I remember when I read that feeling very sad because it really seemed to signal an end to something very special. And sure enough, I didn't see Karen nearly as much as we had hoped and then both of us moved away and sort of lost touch. We did communicate periodically over the years but I regret we were not able to stay in as close of contact. Karen was generous and fun and always up for a challenge. I do not think I would be the person I am today had I not had the benefit of her love and friendship while growing up. I will be forever grateful. Rest in peace dear Karen, your forever friend, Cathy Creswell