Karen Lynn Colone was known for many things – an expert advice giver, a dedicated mother, a loving wife, an excellent friend, and an impassioned traveler. She seemed to be a natural expert at life and at everything the world challenged her with, whether that was raising a daughter, fixing a washer, locating the best seafood in town, or finding the best vacation spot and deals. Throughout her later years, Karen also became an expert in resiliency and determination through her battle with breast cancer. Her husband, John, describes her as having “an incredible will to live” and witnessed this strength in her when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. Karen was able to beat her initial cancer diagnosis in 2010 and even fought through a brain tumor, with her resilient and courageous spirit. In 2018, the family was given the news that Karen’s cancer had returned and had metastasized, which ultimately led to Karen’s passing in 2022.
John, who had been married to Karen for 32 years (and had known her for almost 40 years) was faced with the difficult task of coordinating services for Karen’s large community. He faced the challenges of organizing services for Karen in both Florida and her hometown and identifying who would lead the services. John describes feeling that God was watching over him and his family after losing Karen, going so far as to connect John with his former pastor, Pastor Tim, on a random night time walk – the exact night that they had made the decision to go home from rehab and begin hospice. This chance meeting with Pastor Tim would eventually result in Pastor Tim leading Karen’s services. John felt this was divine intervention–the decision to bring Karen home from rehab weighed heavily on him, they hadn’t attended church since COVID began, and he ran into Pastor Tim in a neighborhood where neither he nor his friends lived.
John wasn’t sure how to properly notify all of those who were important to him, Karen, and his family that Karen had passed. Karen and John had friends and family members in Florida, Michigan, and many other states who John wanted to notify and invite to Karen’s services, but he didn’t want to use Facebook to do so. He wanted something personalized to and focused on Karen, which eventually led him to Ever Loved. He chose Ever Loved due to its simple-to-use interface, ease of sharing, and friendly design, along with the fact that he could also use it to raise funds for American Cancer Society in Karen’s memory and easily thank those who contributed – allowing Karen’s passing to have a lasting impact on the greater cancer community.
John also appreciated that he could receive RSVPs through the memorial website for the luncheon that he was organizing, and over 100 people ended up attending – a testament to how impactful she was as a person.
When reflecting on his experience planning Karen’s memorial, John ended up feeling as though everything happened exactly the way it was meant to. From a chance reconnection with a former pastor to to narrowly avoiding a flood during a hurricane that hit his home in Florida to landing on Ever Loved as his memorial website of choice – his whirlwind of an experience resulted in him feeling as though Karen and God were with him in spirit, watching over him and giving him support during such a difficult time. Karen’s memorial website still lives on as a place for her community to share their favorite memories and photos of Karen and to connect with others who knew just how wonderful she truly was.
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