Here's to You Katie!

We were saddened to hear that a friend of ours passed away recently. That friend is Katie, whom we first met when a big group of us took a cruise to Alaska in 2004. To put it in context, Katie is the aunt of our friends Christine (of Christine & Cassidy) and her brother Eric (of Eric & Dana), which would make her the sister of Christine and Eric's mom, our friend Jean. (I know ... it's complex).


Katie on our Alaskan cruise. (07/30/2004)

We hadn't known Katie prior to the cruise. When we first met, we took a liking to her immediately. Like her sister Jean, Katie was funnier than heck. She and I had quite a few things in common. For example, we're both numismatists. Plus, we both can spend hours on slot machines (she was easy-to-find on the cruise ship ... all you needed to do was check the casino).

It was during that cruise that I learned the lyrics to a song I first heard in an old Carmen Miranda movie. The song was called K-K-K-Katy (Pronounced "kuh-kuh-kuh-Katy," like a stutter). It was a silly but endearing little song that I would sing when I saw her each day.


Jean and her sister Katie at Ray & Brena's wedding. (06/24/2006)

Katie lived in Oregon, so we didn't see her a lot after the cruise. But we did get to see her one more time in 2006 when she was in town for our friend Ray's wedding (Ray was also on the Alaska cruise). That was the first time (and now, sadly, the only time) the entire Alaska cruise bunch had been reunited since the cruise ended.

Katie passed away in June, but we didn't hear about it until recently. From what I gather, Katie didn't want any elaborate services, so the immediate family kept things fairly small with plans for a memorial service a few weeks later. Well that memorial service is this week, and Jean, Christine and Eric are currently up in Oregon celebrating Katie's memory with her friends and family.


Katie with the whole Alaska gang. (06/24/2006)

So with Katie in mind, I'll sing the little song I sang each day when I saw her:

"K-K-K-Katie
Beautiful Katie
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore
When the m-m-m-moon shines
Over the cow shed
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door"

Here's to you Katie!