About Karen

 

I love family and grew up around extended family in the Connecticut countryside (dairy farm country). So many of the townspeople were my relatives when I was a child thatI felt very secure. My grandmothers had attended each other’s bridal showers and my grandfathers had worked together cutting ice for iceboxes as teens, so our families all knew one another well. My extended family had many gatherings and fun together. Marrying a Coast Guard officer and moving around the country gave me a whole new perspective on life. My husband had no first cousins and never lived near relatives. To my surprise, I enjoyed moving around and he enjoyed his new family community.

 

Since I always loved children, I wanted a big family. I have 5 children and a dozen grandchildren (six boys and six girls). I love to laugh and always enjoyed how my late husband saw the humor in life and made comments that brought a smile to my face.

 

 

I love being creative and enjoyed creating family traditions. Growing up in the country I learned several types of needlework, crafts, cooking, and sewing. Currently I’ve been enjoying scrap booking and knitting. I also enjoy bicycle riding.

 

My late husband and I spent 38 years together and loved ministering with youth and young adults. We volunteered with Officer’s Christian Fellowship for those 38 years and I continued to help out at the US Naval Academy with the midshipman Bible studies and activities until I moved back to Florida.

 

 

One November, my younger daughter surprised me (after surprising herself) by discovering that she was 20 weeks pregnant and hadn’t even known! She already has a son and a daughter, but didn’t notice the new life inside her. I laughed because it is such a family thing and I had not known that daughter was coming along until twenty weeks along either!

 

 As a child I loved to have my great-grandma tell me how doctors kept treating her for a stomach tumor until she waltzed in to say, “I’m sorry, but tumors don’t kick.” She had an unexpected 7th daughter. I couldn’t imagine how she didn’t know until it happened to me. Yup, I woke up one night to feel internal kicks and saw my doctor who confirmed I was about 20 weeks along with my 4th child and guess who. Drum roll, yes, it was the daughter who is now pregnant.

 

 

         I lived through four lightning strikes, two spontaneous fires, and two major hurricanes hitting my homes in two different states. We lost half the house to Hurricane Andrew and rebuilt.

 

            I’ve taken a white water rafting trip in Australia (on a river where Olympians train), ridden a camel in the Canary Islands, enjoyed scuba diving off Bermuda, and rode horseback in the ocean in Jamaica. I’ve also done some zip-lining and other fun activities with grandchildren.

 

 

When my oldest was sixteen she plopped on a stool and watched me race around with her two-year-old brother. She said, “Mom, I know why you had another baby. We outgrew you. But, don’t worry, we’ll have children so you don’t need to have any more.” My kids tell me the grandchildren always want to see me because I get down on their level and play with them. I cannot resist playing with children!