Joyeux anniversaire, chère Karen.

Earlier today, I was driving and immediately thought of Karen when I heard the Simple Minds’ song she and I loved: “Don’t you forget about me.” I never will, Karen!

Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure. Je ne suis pas loin, juste de l'autre côté du chemin...

Always in our memory. Always in our hearts. You are missed dearly by those who were graced to know you.

Happy birthday, Karen! Shine on!

Karen, you are indeed Forever Missed. How lucky I was to know you for some of your all-too-short time on this earth. Sending love to all who knew you and still miss you.

I always think of you, my sweetheart. Happy birthday in heaven!

Karen, thank you for teaching me so much about friendship. Miss you!!

Your smile conquered my heart. The memories we shared comfort me every day.

You are always with me, but I still miss you every day and forever my dear sister.

Remembering you with great fondness on your birthday.

You are that break in the clouds that lets the sun shine through! Missing you on this special day.

Oh, yes...December 29th. Happy birthday, dear friend. Miss you. - Jane

I am missing you in ways no words can express. I cherish the treasure of you sweet Pea.

Karen, miss you today and always.

Today, it is the date of your birthday. I only wish your happiness and peace, my sweetheart wherever you are, with my lots of love, happy birthday sweet Pea!

As summer rolls around, I always think of Karen and the adventures we had in France in the summers of '86 and '92: going to classes at Universite' de Grenoble, meandering through the narrow streets of St Paul de Vence, eating cotton candy at the Eiffel Tower, swimming at the beach in Bordeaux, dinners at Au Gamin de Paris, to name a few... Miss you, friend... But I can't help but smile when I recall the fun times we had together. xo Jane 

Thinking of Karen and her family today. Missing her and her beautiful smile.

Dance Me to the End of Love
Leonard Cohen
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Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh, let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

I loved looking through the photos. A beautiful person and a life well lived. Happy birthday, Karen.

50 candles today... I am glad I could spend the day with Joan, Jon and Sarita!

My niece is now 16 years old and is earning/saving money to go to Europe (Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, and London) for the first time, two years from now. I made a donation to her account and am so excited for her!
When I was 16, I went to France for the first time and it was on that trip that I made a life long friend: Karen Flinker. I have so many memories of that incredible trip, the flame it ignited, and the many great experiences that followed.
I wish my niece many great adventures on her trip to Europe and may she make a friend as wonderful as Karen.
Rest in peace, dear friend. I will never forget you.

Think of the entire Flinker-Genest clan today. Sending love to all of you and thinking of our dear absent friend and family member.

Thinking of Karen today and always.

J'ai rêvé de toi sweet Pea!
Recueil : La part du rêve (1863)
Depuis que je t'ai vue, ébloui par l'éclair,
Mon œil s'est voilé d'un mirage ;
Je regarde sans voir, ou je ne vois dans l'air
Flotter qu'une forme, ta douce image ;
Le jour, tout éveillé, je songe ; et, dans la nuit,
Comme un feu follet qui se lève,
Cette image, la tienne, apparaît, et me suit
Au plus profond de mon âme et de mon rêve.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel

Today my thoughts go to your beautiful family who still hold you in their hearts and minds. You are loved and dearly missed.

Happy Birthday my dear, dear friend. I miss your bright, true smile, our laughs, our friendship. This day brings me joy and tears every year--as I celebrate the birth of my oldest daughter Katie, who it turns out was meant to share your special day. As I light a candle for her birthday, I also light one for you. My last memory of you was celebrating your 35th birthday with afternoon tea at the Fairmont on Nobb Hill. How I cherish that time I was able to spend with you. Your spirit is always in my heart.

Forever missed...forever in our hearts.

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal"...

I lived with Karen for 6 weeks in Paris (1991). My friend from college, Jen Guilbert Shaffer, was friends with Karen iand she invited me to stay with them in Paris. Karen became an instant friend. She made me laugh and was so easy to get along with that I felt like I had known her for years. We had so many great times together in Paris! I will never forget that happy time and I will never forget Karen. A beautiful, giving, funny, incredible person who touched my life in so many ways.

Annabel Lee - Poem by Edgar Allan Poe
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It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes! - that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
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