Karen was 18 years old when she was killed, just beginning her life. She was a freshman at St. Bonaventure University, majoring in sports medicine. She was hoping to become a professional sports trainer when she graduated. Karen was very talented in athletics - playing softball for 10-12 years. She played in town leagues, and for 4 years at Mount Mercy Academy, where she attended high school. She was an excellent softball player. In February 1999 - the Western New York Chapter of the American Softball Association named their scholarship after Karen. It will go to high school players who have similar qualities as Karen. MMA also has a Karen Kwiatkowski Memorial Scholarship, a benefit was held this past August to raise money for the scholarship. Over ten thousand dollars was raised.
Karen was not just a sister to me, but my best friend. With it just being the two of us, we were about as close as could be. She was my confidant, there were many times that we were on the same wavelength. The sad thing is we were starting to work out our sisterly problems and we began getting closer, when she was at school. Maybe it was because she was living at the dorms - an hour and a half away - but more likely it was because we were growing up to be adults. We had so much life left to live together. She'll never get to graduate college, walk down the aisle to get married or start a family. We will have no more birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays together. 4 years isn't much of an age difference, but when all you have is each other - a sister is cherished very deeply.
She was loved by all her friends, 2500 people showed us that by coming to her wake and funeral. Her friends at Bona's called her "caring Karen", because she went that extra step for all those close to her. She was killed on March 6, 1998. She was riding with her friend Katie on the way to Katie's grandmother's house on that Friday night. They had spent most of the evening together - going to the mall and having lots of fun catching up. Karen was home on spring break from Bona's and she was supposed to go back to school that Sunday. She never made it back to school.
They were hit head on by a drunk driver, who had a BAC, after the crash of .14. Karen was killed almost instantly. Life has changed for our family drastically ever since that night. Now I am an only child. She was a part of our hearts. And the DD took that away from us when he murdered Karen. He plead guilty and was sentenced to 5-15 years in prison.
This man who drank and got behind the wheel still has his life - we have lost a part of ours...Karen's life was cut short at the age of 18, because someone made a very bad decision - don't let this happen to someone you love - don't drink and drive.
