Carol spent her entire life giving to others. She and her husband, Mike, were always picking up the check at dinner with friends and family, giving small gifts out of the blue, “because when I saw it I thought of you”, giving to charities, hosting fundraisers, and always making their closest friends and immediate family feel like the most special people in the world. Since Carol’s passing on Thanksgiving Day, 2016 we have heard so many stories we never even knew. Sending a cousin 4 tickets to a Beatles concert, a floral arrangement, which still is there today, where she did Physical Therapy, after she realized she was the first customer through the doors of their new office, and a birthday luncheon for the painter of her newly remodeled bathroom complete with balloons, streamers, and cake. Carol never gave for the recognition she did it because it was innately who she was. So it was no surprise to us when Carol reached out to friends and family to help support Carol’s Crew that the response was what it was. Over $40,000 in two years! During her last year of life, she continued to give. Sending birthday wishes, complete with the many emoji’s she loved to use, sending someone away from a visit with a knickknack, sweater, or pictures from a time they had spent together in the past. But, Carol’s greatest gift of giving is what she has given to her grandchildren, Nathaniel, Emma, Declan and Maeve. They have learned to fight for a cause, they learned to never give up, and they learned that no struggle will take away who they are on the inside. They learned how to inspire and they learned how to give. So while losing Carol on Thanksgiving Day may seem like such a hard day to say goodbye we couldn’t have seen it as a more appropriate day for her to begin her eternal life.
This year we celebrate the 27th anniversary of the walk to defeat ALS. We sit here still with no known cause, no cure, but with the new hopes of a treatment. Now more than ever the ALS Association needs our support. Throughout Carol’s struggles, she maintained her unwavering inspiration, bravery, and constant bright light. We promised we would continue to fight in her memory and we ask you to give as Carol did.
Carol, we love you, we miss you, and we will continue to fight for all those living with ALS.