Monday, January 6, 2020
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Karen Mabel Kyler Lee was the brightest, funniest, gutsiest, strongest person I ever knew, aside from her brother. I never saw her mad, never had her answer the phone without hearing “Hi Sweetie” no matter the time, I never heard an unkind word pass her lips. I knew who she loved, but never heard about those she didn’t.
She did things during her marriage I could probably not have done, and things after her divorce that took the guts and strength of a grizzly. She walked miles to get to her job, in all the nastiest weather that Appleton, Wisconsin could throw at her. She lived on what she made and never asked for help if she could help it. She fought me over applying for her ex husband’s social security after he passed. She didn’t think she was entitled to that. She was the only person I ever knew who played on a cricket team. She told jokes that would make the pope blush, but he’d be hiding a grin. She wrote the most amazing poetry. She said she guessed that was her part of the family talent, but it was only a part of it. She could also work in any craft she set her hand to. She loved to crochet, she did awesome things with plastic canvas and yarn, she liked to embroider. She wasn’t all that great a cook, though.
She’d been my sister-in-law and my good friend for the last nearly sixty years. In the beginning, she loved me because her brother did and gave me the space to prove myself. She took my side with family when it would have been easier for her not to. She made sure I knew she had my back, even when she didn’t always agree with me. I loved her more than I ever imagined I would.
All in all, this world is the poorer with the loss of this lady. The only thing that makes me not so sad to see her go is that she’s now in heaven with her brother who adored her, and the rest of her family, and that’s a good vision to have.