Tribute to Kim

This is rather long, but gives just an idea of who my sister in law, Kim, was. It was read at her funeral earlier today. As I update this I am at my husband's parent's home with a room full of extended family. They asked me if I was updating my blog. I said no. But then it sounded like a good idea....

To say that Kim was integral part of our family is an understatement. These last few days as we’ve been attempting to fathom the passing of our daughter, sister and friend we have been struck with so many fun memories and things that made Kimmie unique. Although this is just a tip of the iceberg, these are a few of the special memories that we would like to share.

Kim loved her little dog Millie. Rumor has it that she had her eye on a new puppy friend for Millie and was in the process of preparing her sales pitch to her parents. The vastness of Millie’s wardrobe, thanks to Kim, is amazing. Kimmie was often teased about her obsession with buying things for her dog, but that was just one way she showed her love. She loved seeing people happy and would always do whatever she could to help out, even though it came at a price for her as she was often exhausted after a short time.

There were many things that Kim felt strongly about—most of them involved helping others. She was an advocate for Organ donation, had donated her hair to Locks of Love, and contributed to the forum for the Cystinosis Foundation. Kim presented herself as tough, but had a heart that was tender and easily hurt by people that misunderstood her condition. Kim also had a soft spot in her heart for children. She loved to babysit as her health allowed and dreamed of having a child of her own.

Kim was one that always wanted her meals eaten at the table, especially when her brothers were home. She was the one that would always mash the potatoes—it was her specialty. After everyone was seated it wouldn’t be long before Kimmie started to reveal the most recent drama in her life…how many times she got pulled over that week, how her parents favored Rob and Craig, or any other situation that she had found herself in or could make up on the fly. Eventually we’d all hear the story again about how Craig was supposed to be babysitting her one day and she’d accused him of putting too much salt in her Mac ‘n Cheese. In retaliation for her complaint, she claims that Craig tied her to a rocking chair and set her on the workbench in the garage for Evelyn to find when she came home. There was never a dull moment at the dinner table with Kimmie and her ability to somehow liven up the time together was unique and sometimes distasteful. When we ate out Kim was almost always given a kid’s menu without asking, which was fine with her because that’s what she liked to order off of, anyway.

Kim’s Driving was another issue. Kim volunteered to drive sometimes, and those offers were quickly met by a “no, thank you.” Due to her eyes not tolerating light well, Kim squinted a lot while driving and tended to turn her head away from the road. Therefore curbs and One-Way signs were sometimes overlooked. Her small size also tended to get her pulled over fairly often. In the last two weeks Kim hit a skunk, drove into an automatic carwash backwards, and even navigated Evelyn to drive down the wrong way of a one-way street.

As a child Kim and her friends came up with quite a few get rich quick schemes. She’d do knitting, crocheting, koolaid stands, selling flowers from the neighbor’s yard, and even talked Evelyn into buying her bags of candy to sell at school under the guise of raising funds for the “Kidney Foundation,” which padded her pockets a bit. Something must have worked because she had more bottles of fingernail polish than Wal-Mart.

Despite Kimmie’s frequent hospital visits, doctor’s appointments, dialysis, and surgeries she never complained. She did what she had to do to deal with her condition. Things were not easy for her. Kim had two kidney transplants, open heart surgery and countless other surgeries and procedures. She fought for her life more times than many of us could even imagine. Kim would selflessly hide how bad she was really feeling to keep others from worrying about her. She had recently written on her wall on Face book that “Love is not measured by counting the years, but by making the years count” and did she ever make those years count.

The weekend before she went in to the hospital for the last time, Kim told her best friend that she was relieved. She knew that she was going to heaven and she’ll be waiting for her and that she would ask Jesus to save a place for her. Ten days later Kim smiled as she realized that she was back home in her own house. Although her time left at home with us in this life was short, we were blessed to see our daughter, sister, and friend go to sleep peacefully in her own bed to wake up in the arms of Jesus in Heaven.

We know that the days ahead will be tough as we continue to mourn and grieve that Kim is no longer with us here. We do have the assurance, though, that she is in Heaven enjoying all of the luxuries that we can’t even imagine. She’s likely drinking all the water that she wants, admiring that sparkling crown and maybe mashing some potatoes.