The Paddock Family: Aunt Karen 8/2104

This is my Aunt Karen. I was blessed with 6 awesome Aunts in my life.. I love them all. I have fond memories of each and every aunt. Memories of fun times, visits to their homes and them in mine. I have tons of cousins and we always had so much fun together!

Aunt Karen was my hero. In so many ways...

#1 She was hysterical! Really, the kind of person who can crack a joke and or make a sarcastic remark to and about anyone off the cuff. She just made us all laugh. Her laughter was contagious! She was the kind of person who laughed with her whole being. She would laugh loud, and long and hard. She would be in tears at the end of a good laugh fest. That trait has carried on through our family from my mom down to me and my girls. We do not just giggle around here. We laugh until we cry, with a few snorts in between, and sometimes it takes everything I have not to just pee my pants right then and there. That's how she laughed, and that's why she was funny...She was just hilarious. I remember her telling us about how humiliated she was about her all the garbage they had on garbage day. They lived in a nice neighborhood and she said her neighbors would put a little tiny bag of garbage that they had compacted. And she would fill several cans. She said sometimes she would sneak over after dark and put some of her garbage in their cans, so hers didn't look so full. I am not sure if she really did that or not, but I can see it in my mind. Maybe she just wanted to do that and never did. I should have asked her I guess.

#2 She was so much fun! I am not sure if I can recall one particular time that was "fun" What I do know is that if Karen was there, it was fun. Out of all the places I could choose to go it would have been to her house. We never lived close to them through my whole entire childhood. They lived in Panguitch when we lived in Santa Barbara. Then they moved up to Sandy before we moved to Cedar City. The one thing that made it so we spent time together as families was that her and my mom were super close. We all loved celebrating the holidays in Panguitch, especially the 24th of July. That was also my moms birthday and since Karen's was July 26th we just partied as many days as we could all be there. There was lots of food and fun. I can picture her dancing around the room. Sometimes with a kid in her arms or sometimes alone. She was always singing and laughing and that made her fun! My aunts and Grandma Owens did a lot of quilting during those holidays and we would play under the quilt and listen to them talk and laugh. My mom was happiest when she was with Karen, so that always made an impression on me. My mom + Karen = fun! They made peanut butter fudge and we made enchiladas by the pan full. We would make homemade corn dogs and Frappe" ( a frozen slush drink) We made Lasagna and cake with my Grandmas famous 2" of frosting. We would cook all day and spread out tons of tables on the grass and eat meals in the summertime. My Grandmas kitchen was tiny. Like, really tiny, but we would all cram in there to help cooking because it was fun.

#3 She made me feel like I was her favorite and always me feel at home. I loved spending time with her because she was so easy going and fun. She would talk to me and ask me questions. She always called me Ker, which is such a minor thing, but to me it meant I was important enough to have a nick name. I remember one year, my mom was going up to Karen's for a few days for some reason and she said I couldn't go with her. I was SO mad. I was probably around 12 or something. I cried for days. I begged her to let me go. I told her I hated her for not letting me go, and wouldn't speak to her. My birthday was coming up and I wanted to go with her for my birthday. I was devastated when she really left me and went to Karen's without me. The next day my friend and I who shared the same birthday, went to her house after school and walked into our "surprise" party. My mom had arranged this party with Gina's mom and that's why she wouldn't take me. Of course I have always felt bad that. I was such a brat to my mom, once I realized why, but at the same time. I really would have rather gone to stay at Karens than have the party. Going to her house was fun for all those reasons and more. She had a big house and was always decorating it cute and redoing things. My mom wasn't in to decorating at all, so I loved seeing what she would change between visits. I remember her maroon carpet. I thought it was beautiful! I am sure we would all be horrified of it now. She just had the knack of creating a beautiful home. I loved that I would get to stay in a room, usually by myself, especially when I got older. It made me feel grown up. I loved getting up in the morning and wandering around. Making breakfast or finding some. I loved her pantry. She bought things we never had at our house. Pop Tarts being the one I remember most. Now I realize she had a lot of foods like that, because she worked so much, and had a lot of kids, so she needed things they could help themselves to if she wasn't there. I remember making French toast for breakfast on this huge griddle for all of us kids. We would smother it with syrup and powdered sugar and sit on one of the barstools at her long, long counter and chatting. When we would visit all us girls would make Lasagna together. It was her favorite and my mom was a pro at Lasagna. It seems like we would cook meals there a lot. Looking back I think my mom and her would do that so after we left she would have some meals in her freezer to make it easier for her after work.

#4 She was always positive. I guess when you grow up your perspective changes. I loved that she was always laughing and happy and cracking jokes. I know now, that just because that was her character, she still had a really, really hard life. After she got married and moved to Sandy, while my cousins were all still very young. (Aimee was a baby) My uncle Boyd was killed in a plane accident. Here she was a young stay at home mom, with 6 young children left to pick up the pieces and raise her family. I had no idea at the time, because she lived in a nice home, that things were pretty tough on her financially. I think they were doing well until he died, but Karen was not about to let that take her down. I am sure even though I never saw the tears and heartache or felt her worries that they were all too real, yet she never let it show. I thought she was the strongest happiest person on earth. She worked hard for 40 years in the construction world, at a time when women did not do that. Her neighbor took her under his wing and taught her how to drive heavy equipment and any other thing he needed. She never let it show, after working long hard days. She would come home and crack open some cans and feed her children and smile. I could never explain all that happened in her home, but after listening her children, each and everyone speak so highly of her. I know for sure they had a happy home and felt loved and safe. I doubt they realized until they were older how hard she worked and how much she sacrificed for them. I remember my mom and dad filling coolers of meat to take up to her to help her out. I think they helped her a lot. I really admire that about my parents. They use their money wisely and took care of those they loved. I know her neighbors also helped her. I am sure that was hard on her , but she probably felt she needed it enough to accept it.

# 5 She was a fighter. Like my mom she struggled with health problems of her own. Because of her hard line of work, her body slowly began to fail her. She had some major back trouble, but every time my mom needed help, or my dad called and asked her to she would come and stay with my mom. They had a hard time getting out to have fun, because my mom was limited in mobility, but that didn't stop them from having fun, they would make peanut butter fudge, play cards and games and "try" to fix up my moms house. She was always there when my mom needed her.
Her last few years were spent fighting ovarian cancer. She went through hell with her treatments and everyone of her kids stood by her side and cared for her, as she had cared for them. I am sure it was hard for her to let them help her. She seemed to stay positive and fight through the whole thing. When my mom died it was really tough on her. She felt responsible because my mom was at her house to visit when she fell. I think that's the one time I watched her beat herself up and lose her positive attitude. All of us knew it wasn't her fault in any way and none of us blamed her. We all loved her too much for that.
On July 22nd this year we had our annual Owens Family Reunion in Panguitch. It was something we always look forward to and have for years. It was really hard to not have my mom there, but we all went and enjoyed visiting. I went over to Karen as she sat at the table and talked with her for a minute. I wish it would have been longer. I am glad I gave her a hug and told her, that we loved her and didn't blame her for moms death. My mom had a mission to fill and that was to be in Heaven when Michon arrived. I know that for sure. After all those years of fighting Diabetes she lost her life because of broken bones. After talking to her I walked away and started talking to LeAnn. I asked her how her mom was doing because she looked just like my mom to me that day. In fact all of us commented on that. I think it was esp. hard on my dad to see her. Not only looking like my mom, but bent over with a gray tone to her face. LeAnn said they had given her a cancer free diagnosis when I asked her. A week later we found out different. The pain she had been fighting for months was cancer eating away at her body. She had been in a lot pain and was taking a lot of medication and everyone was worried about that, not knowing how much pain she was really in.They gave her 4-6 weeks to live. We were all devastated. Losing my mom was kind of the start of losing that generation of our family. On August 24th she lost her battle with Cancer surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Those who meant the most to her. Those she loved and worked so hard for all her life. I am so grateful they had each other all those years. I am so grateful she was my Aunt Karen.
Three or four days before she died I had the strong impression to send her flowers. It made perfect sense to me. Why send them to her family after she is gone? Kristi helped get them ordered and there. The kids said she loved them. They had brightened her room those last few days. Heaven gained an angle that day. My mom got her sister back and I am pretty sure they ate enough Peanut Butter Fudge that they laughed until they cried.