Photo: legacy.com
The internet is rallying behind California man after the loss of his “special sister.”
Erik Sydow remembered his sister Karen with a189-word obituarypublished in theLos Angeles Timesthis week after she died on Sept. 5 at the age of 61. The brief yet poignant tribute described Karen as someone “who never had wants or misgivings.”
Karen was born with cerebral palsy and, because of her diagnosis, could only speak three words: mom, Donalds (because she loved McDonalds) and piano (because she loved music).
Erik wrote that he had recently been able to get “back to normal” with his sister after almost two years of restricting visits due to COVID-19.
Karen died two weeks after that visit, her brother said.
“I think she really wanted to be with mom,” he concluded. “Karen, I wish I could have made you laugh one more time. I needed you too. Love your brother Erik.”
After the obituary’s publication,LA Timesreporter Daniel Miller shared a photo of the print piece on Twitter, calling it “remarkable.” The tweet quickly went viral. At the time of publication, the post had nearly 250,000 likes and over 27,000 retweets.
So, one day laterMiller called Erikto talk more about his sister and share the online support Miller had received on his behalf.
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“My sister was my father’s No. 1 priority,” Erik said. Their father died in 2007, and their mother earlier this year.
He continued, “He left me very few instructions when he passed but…. he just wanted her to continue to be happy.”
So, Erik did whatever he could to make Karen happy. He recalled once again that sunny visit when they took a bike ride around Lake Balboa — Karen laughing as the wind hit her face and the bell rang.
“I’d do anything I could to make her laugh,” he said.
source: people.com
