My life with Karen has been a remarkable journey. She was a precious and loving wife, a wonderful human being and a tremendous life partner.
Karen and I met in 1963 while we were attending Napa College in California. She came from Montana and I from Hawaii. How we met was by accident and a friend of mine said you’ve got to meet Karen. As I got to know here, I discovered she not only had lots of friends, she and at least two other “boyfriends.” Gradually we became exclusive friends and after a year of friendship I asked her to marry me.
We got married shortly before I joined the Air Force and we were married in Helena, Montana on June 14. I spent a tour in Washington state and then got orders for an overseas tour in Spain.
Karen was a very smart lady and a funny event occurred when I got my overseas assigment that I will never forget. I arrived home after being told I was being sent to Spain, I told Karen I got orders to a country in Europe. Karen said, ‘oh, we’re going to Japan?”
I don’t know if they teach geography in Montana or at the community college level, but her response was such an example of her refreshing innocence and naively.
We spent three wonderful years in Spain. Our oldest daughter was born there. We brought back many wondereful memories.
One memory I will never forget is her willingness to please. We lived off base and didn’t have telephones. One day after wok, me and my favorite co-worker followed me home at my request. We opened the apartment door and lo and behold, there was Karen dressed in nothing but an Apron when she yelled out “surprise!” She didn’t know I was bringing my friend over for dinner. Apparently, Karen had been reading a women’s magazine that described the ways you can surprise your husband when he comes home from work. I must say I was surprised and delighted as was my friend!
We left Spain and was re-assigned to March AFB in Southern California and made Riverside our home.
Karen worked at the unified School district office for several years until she injured her back. I continued to work 10-12 hours a day in the medical clinic business. We both knew a more independent and less stressful type of work was the best alternative for us,
In my search for an alternative, I ran across a Franchinse opportunity restoring kitching cabinets. She attended a workshop in South Dakota and on the third day of the one week introductory seminar, she called me and she couldn’t control her excitement or enthusism. Our franchise, Kitchen Tune-Up opened up out of our home. I was still working full time at the medical clinics but she insisted she would find someone to help her do the real heavy part. And she did. The helper we had could not continue and I felt compelled to step in and trade my executive clothes for working man clothes. Karen still gave all the estimates for our work and I slowly did on-the job training as a wood restorer.
I can truely say we got almost all the jobs because the people instantly loved her. I only came along to do the heavy work which to say the least I was not accustomed to.
I was always looking for other income producing opportunities. I heard of a Yogurt and shave ice shop that was up for sale near the University of Riverside. It looked extremely busy and I observed so many happy customers. Little did I know that people don’t prefer cold refreshments during the winter as I bought the store in October and the business essentially dried up during the winter months. Our jaunt as retail store operators lasted only five months, We financiall couldn’t hold out till the next summer. While working full time at the school district, Karen kept the store compliant with the State of California since the yogurt machines had to be cleaned thoroughly prior to selling yogurt to the public. After working 40 hours a week at her day job, she would come to the store early Saturday morning and spend 3-4 hours cleaning the yogurt machines. The only thing I ever cleaned in my life was our cars and all I did was hose them down to get them wet.
I always thought of myself as an entrepreneur but Karen was truely the hardest working entrepreneur I ever knew.
Our time together not only involved work.
I liked to go to Las Vegas for fun and loss. Karen didn’t really care for Las Vegas. She never wanted to take chances with her money, most of it hard-earned. So, on one visit I gave her a roll of nickels to go wild and thrown into a slot machine. A roll of nickles was $2.00. She promply went up to a machine and played three nickles at a time. Lo and behold, all of a sudden, she hit a jackpot for a whooping $150, She didn’t even know how much she won until the nickels starting pouring out of the older three wheel slot machine. I think she only used half of the nickles I gave her. She promply went to the cashier cage with her winnings and traded the nickels for a hundred dollar bill and $50 in smaller bills. She walked over to me, smartly handed me two one dollar bills saying thanks for the “loan”. (Being a firm capitalist, I was expecting at least half of the winnings.) She said now she has enough money to buy the washing machine she always wanted!
One of Karen’s favorite classic sitcoms on TV was Hogans Hero’s. Every night for the past year she would watch the reruns before going to bed. I once asked her why she liked that particular show and she said jokingly one of the characters on the show- Sgt Schultz- reminded her of me , especially when he repeated his go to phrase “I know nothing!” I was a sergeant in the Air Force as well and I would have been more successful in the service if only I used that phrase more often. Overall, I do “know nothing” compared to Karen in the later years where she used Google so much she became an expert “in many subjects because of that and because of ofher relentless search for truth and knowledge.
Karen spent several of her later working years as an interior designer and decorator.
Some of our most productive and meaningful work revolved around our 12 year stint at the Riverside Historical Mission Inn in downtown Riverside. To get the job, we had to compete with two other contractors. The interview consisted of just one task— restoring a wooden chair that had become unfit to use in the lobby. It was Karen who closed the deal as she restored the piece right in front of management in less than an hour. And the piece was placed back in the lobby immediately after she restored it. no drying time and no smell. All I could do was watch her because I was color blind and I couldn’t match the stain necessary to complete the restoration process.
The employers in the maintenance department dubbed her as “Midget Bardot”;and soon after that became her email address.
Our later years became somewhat challenged since I suffered a stroke in 2008. My working days were over, but her’s was not.
All by herself she diligently learned Interior Decoration and Design and she absolutely loved what she did. It was Karen that produced enough income through this effort so we could continue to live the standard of living we were accustomed to.
She worked interior design right up to month she showed signs of the facial cancer. She wore bandages to try and hide the cancer. Her clients didn’t care how she looked, they only cared about what miracles in design she could perform.
Her life ended.And although mine did not, a part of me did. Not everything gone is truly lost.!
Karen made a believer out of me and it was her love, her kindness, her persistence, her work effort, her charisma and her faith that was the icing on the cake, I just went along for the ride.
