Kara Lynn Evancho (1967-2010)

Kara. Sweet but caustic Kara. It was 4 years ago that you left us too soon. You were one of the craziest people I knew (and I mean that literally of course, and I can hear you chuckling). You drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney, and had the mouth of a drunken sailor. But at not quite 5 feet tall (4-foot 11-and-a-half you always reminded me...that half inch was very important) you had one of the biggest hearts I could ever know. Unconditionally. That's how you liked people. I almost said love, but I know how you don't like that mushy stuff. When I was super-stressed out after divorcing and having a young son and moving into a house that was not even fit to live in at the time you showed up with a plastic bag full of sandwiches and loose beers. That's how you were. But I didn't appreciate it then. You drove me nuts at work (geeze you knew how to push my buttons) but we also laughed a lot. We talked a lot, too. We talked about how screwed up things were...we talked about how screwed up we were. But you were one of my biggest supporters...I would tell you to shut up when you told people that I was such a good cook that I could even make shit taste good. I still hear your voice at work. A lot lately. And it's comforting. Thank you for that. But rest in peace sweet Kara. You deserve it.

Urban Simplicity.