Then came her brother Mike,
the son we always wanted.....
and we had the perfect family....
We had alot of funas a family...
Loved to go camping and trail riding on our Yamaha...

When Kathy was 11 and Mike 8
we moved to Ft Myers,Fla.....
They both adjusted well and loved Fla....
Both children did well in school
and were good kids...
never gave us any trouble....

Kathy was a Raiderette all 4 years
of high school and Mike played sports...
She was a very happy girl who
loved everyone....
She never met a stranger...

She was in Honors and Beta
club as well as band....
But also loved to have fun ....
In her yearbook her clubs are listed
from Beta Club to Bleacher Bums..;-))

She was 29 when she was killed in an auto accident.....
It was at 11:30 Easter Eve...
The police came to our door at 4AM Easter Morning....

Kathy was never married...
engaged but broke it off as she
said she wasn't ready..
She loved kids...Was Aunt Kathy
to all her friends kids....

Nearly 2 years before her fatal accident
she was abducted from our neighborhood
bowling alley where she had bowled
every Thur.night for 5 yrs.

A guy was lying on the floor trying
to hot wire the car....
He made her get in and drive....
She jumped out of the car up on the interstate
and was hit by a semi truck (18 wheeler)
while trying to flee her abductor....

She had a hole blown in her bladder
that required emergency surgery....
then 10 days later had total
reconstruction of her knee....
also a broken pelvis and many other injuries....

She was in the hospital for 6 weeks....
with one leg in a cast from the
very top of her thigh to the tip of her toe
and the other in traction for the pelvis...
could not move at all....

Once it was out that she was hurt
the hospital waiting room filled with
friends in the middle of the night....
The whole time she was in the hospital
there were tons of people in and out all the time....

As soon as she got out of ICU the flowers and gifts
of all kind start comming...
Every wall was filled with cards
we hung as they came....
One wall was all cards kids made her.....
The nurses thought she was a school teacher
from all the kid's cards...

She had so many balloons tied on her bed
the aide would tease her and say she couldn't
open the window or Kathy would float down
the street from all the balloons..;-)
Staff and visitors came by just to see her room....

I told her," God couldn't have taken her without
her seeing how she was loved by so many people"

We made one room a Hospital room at home...
We had a hospital bed,wheel chair,slid board,shampoo board...
Her Dad built a ramp of our screened room
to take her out in her wheelchair....
She went to therapy 2 hrs a day,5 days
a week for a year....

I took a leave from work and took care of her....
I had to use the slide board to get her
in and out of her wheelchair..
And I had to slide her back onto the bedside commade...
she could not move...

We always had a good time...
We'ld go eat after therapy or go home
and watch the soaps and talk and laugh...
I also watched my grandson..
he was 8 months old...
So I'd get her in the chair and
she'ld hold him and off we'ld go....

She was a joy to take care of as
she never complained..
was always up beat....
Finally she got up on crutches...
then there was no stopping her..;-)
Her friends would come take her to
the mall or dancing in her chair....

After a year of therapy and several surgeries
and casts she was able to walk
without a limp....
On her B-day 14 months later
she went dancing and danced the whole night.....
Was so happy....

The only thing was she
never got her memory back.....
She remembered the whole day it happened
up to putting her key in to unlock her car door....
and everything after from being in the ER...
They said when she was completely recovered
and all the physical pain was gone
she would probably get it back...
but she never did.....

Her brother was always there for her...
He would go everyday to the hospital
on his lunch hour and take her
things she liked to eat....
and then bring his baby by nearly every evening....
As Devin was the light of her life....

She and her brother had a close relationship.....
He'ld take her to therapy when he could....

And of course her Dad was everything to her....
He did all her legal work and
never missed a day going to the hospital....
He was with the police when
they caught the guy......

I often wonder why she had to go thru that
ordeal and work so hard on a full recovery...
then be taken in an instant....
But I thank God for letting her know
how much she was loved by everyone......

Her viewing and funeral were the same...
Oh so many people and so many
flowers,mass cards,food and gifts of money....
It was unbelievable....
She was out of school for 12 yrs.
and some teachers,her principal,and band
instructor were there....

Kathy was a true servant of God....
and she was loved by everyone she met....
She will live on in so many hearts forever
and always be remember for her Big Genuine Smile....;-)

She was our Sunshine and it is so hard to go
on without her....but with the help of our son
and grandson always being there for us we made it......