Karen: The Inspiration!

Let me tell you about my best friend, Karen. We met in our 10th-grade Spanish class at our all-girls high school. She was the new kid, and I had been there for five years. Karen was the daughter of a Hollywood producer, while I attended on a scholarship. Karen thought it was cool that I wore Vans tennis shoes that looked like saddle shoes, our required footwear while she always had a penny in her penny loafers. We would laugh and roll our eyes when our Spanish teacher, Señora Roberts, would say, “Julio Iglesias, ¡Qué guapo!”

We were kicked out of class repeatedly for laughing too much. Our English teacher was also the drama teacher, and every week, we had to stand in front of the class to recite a sonnet or monologue from Shakespeare or such. It got to the point where if one of us had to go up, the other would leave the room to avoid bursting into laughter. And yet we still heard the other laughing outside by the water fountain. Karen still remembers the opening preamble of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Middle English, while all I can recall is “Whan that Aprille…”! Ask me what happened at her wedding when the minister went into the hell and damnation part of his version of marriage. I am surprised her father-in-law didn’t call it off right then.

Every summer we would watch and dance around the house watching “Singing in the Rain.” We probably both can quote the entire movie. We spent many summers sitting on some set her dad was working on. On one set in Malibu, we spent all day sitting in a tree trying to figure out the meaning of life. I was either at her house or she at mine playing cards, doing a puzzle, watching tv or reading a book.

Karen went to college in Gettysburg, and I went to Northern Arizona. We would never live in the same state again. She joined ROTC, and I played tennis. This was before computers and cell phones, so we wrote lots of letters. After graduation, she was commissioned in the Army and chose Air Defense Artillery (ADA) as her specialty. I asked what that was, and she casually said, "We shoot things out of the sky." I figured that sounded safe—little did I know, less than three years later, she would be in the middle of a war, working as an officer in Desert Storm on the Patriot Missile system. She spent three or four tours in the Middle East. During one, she had to leave her six- month-old son with his aunt as both she and her then-husband were deployed to war-zones.

Karen eventually retired from the military as a Lieutenant Colonel, with many honors. She doesn’t talk much about them, but I’ve seen her medals and awards tucked away on shelves throughout her house. I’m in awe of her sacrifices and dedication to our country. How did this quiet, shy, 5’3” girl from Los Angeles end up as an officer in a major conflict in the Middle East and is currently working for the Department of Defense?!

Now, she’s facing yet another battle. Over a year ago, Karen was diagnosed with advanced-stage ovarian cancer. True to form, she has faced it with bravery and resilience, taking each challenge as it comes. She’s defeated it this round but knows she must remain vigilant. She never asked why me. She just looks at the facts and does what was needed to defeat it. “What do we say to the God of Death? Not today!” quote of Aarya Stark from GOT.

Karen truly is my bestie. She loves meat and potatoes, while I prefer sushi and wheatgrass. Her birthday is in May, mine in November. She lives on the East Coast, I’m on the West Coast. She remembers details from our childhood, while I’m just trying to remember what I had for breakfast. She loves solid facts, and I’m her "crazy woo-woo" friend who talks about universal energy.

Karen is my inspiration! She has demonstrated bravery both on the battlefield and in her personal life. I’m so excited to spend time with her and her family next week. Thank you, Karen, for being the incredible, inspirational person that you are. And thank you for being my bestie!!