Susie's Thoughts
Annie said “It’s as if a leg of our table has broken.” But we both knew that Carol was more than one leg of our table. She was our rock, our treasure, our adventurer, our connection to cousins, our dancer, our painter, our musician, our encourager.
When we were young and all living at home, it was Carol who was the excellent student, the scholar. We would lie on our beds in our shared bedroom and I would ask Carol, who was an avid reader of any written material that came into the house, to read to me. She always did it, even when she would rather have been peacefully reading to herself. I was always bothering her, “pleeeessseeeee”, and she was always affectionately complying to my request.
In high school, Carol was brave enough to act in the plays and play piano in the talent shows. I have such strong memories of how proud I felt of my big sister up on the stage playing Moonlight Sonnata. At Brandeis, she played piano for the musical, and I remember watching her so patiently and fondly practicing with the lead, who totally sang off key. She would say “that’s good, just a little bit higher, ok, now a little lower… Perfect”, and then they would go on to the next phrase. She was truly able to enjoy the positive aspects of everyone she encountered.
Our dear mother has been heart broken by Carol’s departure. She came with us from Boston to New York last week, but was so devastated by being where Carol wasn’t, that she sent us as her representatives to this service. Carol and Johnny have made Mom’s life so rich. Carol would call Mom every day, and somehow she got our Mom to talk and listen. Her emails to us about her conversations would have us all laughing and happy that she gave Mom such pleasure.
This summer, Carol and Lowell went to Europe for a month. Carol packed one back pack for the whole month. To lighten her load, she cut out the non-essential pages of her travel book. They visited an old friend from her youth in France and were moved by the warmth and old memories. Then they were joined by her Annie and John in Italy, where she was able to use her newly learned Italian. Annie talks about how they traipsed up every small path, every set of winding stairs, looked at every store window. I’m so glad that Annie got to have this wonderful trip with her best friend.
I loved about Carol that she was so curious about the people around her. I loved that she soaked up and appreciated the good aspects of people around her, and how she didn’t let the negative get in the way of her engagement with the good qualities. She saw the positive where others saw the negative.
I loved the way in museums she would stand with her nose two inches from the painting, absorbed in the details of each section. She drove the museum guards crazy. I love that she was so brave. I love that she was so determined. I loved her crazy laugh. You always knew where Carol was sitting in the audience of Betina’s plays. I loved the way she talked fondly about the kids in the play. I love the way she and Lowell had their daily routine. They would read a few pages of Spanish, then a few pages of Italian. They would go through their chord progressions for a jazz tune, trying out every key. Then finally, they would practice a new dance step, so that they would be ready for the wedding. And they were so ready.
When we were young and all living at home, it was Carol who was the excellent student, the scholar. We would lie on our beds in our shared bedroom and I would ask Carol, who was an avid reader of any written material that came into the house, to read to me. She always did it, even when she would rather have been peacefully reading to herself. I was always bothering her, “pleeeessseeeee”, and she was always affectionately complying to my request.
In high school, Carol was brave enough to act in the plays and play piano in the talent shows. I have such strong memories of how proud I felt of my big sister up on the stage playing Moonlight Sonnata. At Brandeis, she played piano for the musical, and I remember watching her so patiently and fondly practicing with the lead, who totally sang off key. She would say “that’s good, just a little bit higher, ok, now a little lower… Perfect”, and then they would go on to the next phrase. She was truly able to enjoy the positive aspects of everyone she encountered.
Our dear mother has been heart broken by Carol’s departure. She came with us from Boston to New York last week, but was so devastated by being where Carol wasn’t, that she sent us as her representatives to this service. Carol and Johnny have made Mom’s life so rich. Carol would call Mom every day, and somehow she got our Mom to talk and listen. Her emails to us about her conversations would have us all laughing and happy that she gave Mom such pleasure.
This summer, Carol and Lowell went to Europe for a month. Carol packed one back pack for the whole month. To lighten her load, she cut out the non-essential pages of her travel book. They visited an old friend from her youth in France and were moved by the warmth and old memories. Then they were joined by her Annie and John in Italy, where she was able to use her newly learned Italian. Annie talks about how they traipsed up every small path, every set of winding stairs, looked at every store window. I’m so glad that Annie got to have this wonderful trip with her best friend.
I loved about Carol that she was so curious about the people around her. I loved that she soaked up and appreciated the good aspects of people around her, and how she didn’t let the negative get in the way of her engagement with the good qualities. She saw the positive where others saw the negative.
I loved the way in museums she would stand with her nose two inches from the painting, absorbed in the details of each section. She drove the museum guards crazy. I love that she was so brave. I love that she was so determined. I loved her crazy laugh. You always knew where Carol was sitting in the audience of Betina’s plays. I loved the way she talked fondly about the kids in the play. I love the way she and Lowell had their daily routine. They would read a few pages of Spanish, then a few pages of Italian. They would go through their chord progressions for a jazz tune, trying out every key. Then finally, they would practice a new dance step, so that they would be ready for the wedding. And they were so ready.
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