Karen Marie Knapp

I live alone. I have no kin less than a full day's drive away. I'm chronically ill with a disease that is incurable and fatal. Though I am doing all the things I need to do to collect on the "15 to 20 years of medically manageable symptoms", such as taking all my medicines, doing my physical therapy, using my oxygen, and so on, the fact is that I could easily be Called at any time. And the first notice of my passing, when my body finally stops working entirely, is very likely to be a blaring loudspeaker just like the one in the cafeteria this noontime, at some hospital or skilled nursing facility. I hope that when my time comes, and the loudspeakers start hollering about my room, that there is someone who takes pity on me and prays for me. It's on that list of the Things Catholics Do, the Works of Mercy: Pray for both the living and the dead.

Karen was the author of the weblog From the Anchor Hold, which she penned from her vantage point in Milwaukee near "Father Groppi's Bridge." She passed away only yesterday. Her brother Tom wrote this message today to Mark Shea, who first announced the news: "Calling Hours are 5-8 PM Sunday, August 5, in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for 10 AM on Monday, August 6, 2007. Karen's expressed desire, at several different times, was to cause as little 'trouble' as possible at her passing, whether in Milwaukee, Akron, or wherever, and so she will be interred in Akron... Arrangements have been made to place her obituary in the Akron Beacon Journal and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. I hope to arrange a memorial Mass, or possibly a shorter Liturgy, when I return next mid-week. Details will follow."

Remember not her sins, O Lord, when you come to judge the world by fire...
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