Lisa's tribute to Aunt Kay Crawford

my sister Lisa wrote a tribute to Aunt Kay on her blog http://lifelinlisaland.blogspot.com/

Goodbye Aunt Kay

My Aunt Kay passed away at 3:45 on Saturday morning.

Aunt Kay married young, when she was eighteen. Her husband was 34 and had three kids-ages 8, 11, and 13. I can' t imagine going from being a carefree high school student to being a wife and having three children, overnight.

But Aunt Kay was in love and she was strong, possibly stronger than she realized. I'm sure it was hard parenting children who were really more like siblings than children, at least in relation to her age. But she did it! I haven't stayed in contact with two of Aunt Kay's step-children, but am facebook friend with one of them. She consists Aunt Kay to be "mom" and dearly loved her, which is a true testament to how well Aunt Kay adjusted and adapted to her new life.

Aunt Kay and Uncle Bob went on to have three children together, Robin, Chris, and Shawn. They have numerous grandchildren. Aunt Kay adored her family! And she was great with her mother, my grandmother. Grandma Grace is in her 90s and in a nursing home, being widowed about 12 years ago. Mom would joke about how her and Aunt Chardy would get "in trouble" when they took Grandma out to eat with out Aunt Kay. They were so used to Aunt Kay helping Grandma-getting her food for her, helping her cut her food, etc-that they never thought about it. If Aunt Kay happened to not be with them they would all of a sudden realize that SOMEONE needed to help Grandma!

Uncle Bob worked in construction for years. Aunt Kay worked right along his side. She learned all about repairs, construction, etc. all taught to her by her loving husband. She helped with all aspects of the business and they were a team, in every meaning of the word. On top of that, I don't ever remember going to her house (which was huge as they had a bunch of kids and worked construction, so they just built on as the need for more space arose) when it wasn't spotless. I don't work 1/2 as many hours as her and half fewer kids but but my house is rarely, if ever, as clean as hers was.

About 5 years ago Aunt Kay battled cancer and won. She was having some pain, problems, and went to the doctor around Thanksgiving. Shortly after Thanksgiving she received word that the cancer was back and she started chemo once again. Soon afterwards she developed a bad bacterial infection and was put on antibiotics and received IV fluids for dehydration. She was back home for about 2 weeks when she was rushed to the hospital. They discovered she had a bleeding stomach ulcer and she had surgery to remove 30% of her stomach. They had to do another surgery the same day to repair a bleeder. She was doing very well, considering everything her body had been through. Unfortunately they discovered Friday that she had another massive infection and her body was just too tired and weak to fight it off. After spending 21 days in ICU she passed away early Saturday morning.

Aunt Kay was loved by many and will be missed. I'm thankful that her pain and suffering has ended but am sad for those of us left behind, as our suffering has been intensified by her passing.

This is a picture of Aunt Kay and Uncle Bob, taken on November 28 2010 at our annual Brown holiday gathering. they are surrounded by their children, son and daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. Daughter Robin with son Jace and daughter Lexi, son Chris with daughters Ashley and Tara, and son Shawn with wife Karlan. Robin's husband Bobby wasn't able to be with us, as he was overseas serving with the National Guard.