Janine Gardner
Remembering Carol Stout….
My Dear Friend, I know you are with George, and you are reconciled with all your earthly companions. I picture you with Carol, George, Sandy, and Nathan on lake Powell.
Our friendship goes way back to the years of our up and coming youth; me finding my true comedy path, you safe and warm in your cozy home raising your girls. I would become a standup comedienne, and you a wonderful mother. Though our paths diverged, we visited when time zones and miles tested us.
Dust to dust. How much earth have we moved with our rags, brooms, and feather dusters? Perhaps tons over a lifetime, only to discover that dust would win in the end, and we return to it eventually.
You overcame so much in your time here – challenges such as hardship, poverty, abandonment, hard work, and project management. You asked nothing more than to make a loving home for your daughters, and so you did, against all odds.
We shared coffee, crock pot recipes, ciggies and an occasional drink or two. We survived hair dye and home perms in your warm, fragrant kitchen, and late nights devoted to beauty and girl talk.
Your back was stronger then, and your frame was sturdy. You water-skied, hiked, and chased giggling babies in your tidy yard. Your posture was bent forward, as though bucking up against a mighty wind, pulling a heavy load.
Well done, my sweet friend. I celebrate a life well lived, and arms filled with abundance, safety, home and hearth. One day you will greet me with your beaming smile and wrap me in a crocheted afghan. Til then, wrap me in your soft wings, and I will love you to the moon and back.
Your lifelong friend,
Janine Gardner
