Dear Fergus and Leo
I worked with Karena at the Winnicott Baby Unit in the 1990s where I saw first hand her dedication to the little people in her care. My lasting memory is Karena on a high stool beside an incubator, Coke can in one hand and skilfully manipulating the ventilator with the other. Never forget Leo that there are people out there that survived due to her skills and dedication. That is such a legacy to be proud of.
The first time I presented our data at the ReaSon conference in 94 I was so nervous. I was convinced I would get a question I could not handle but Karena sat through six workshops giving me that support. Her smiling face in the audience gave me the confidence I needed to complete the task and answer all questions. She was also a remarkable teacher and had the knack of taking complex pulmonology and translating it into plain English. We took our oscillatory ventilation workshops on the road and she finally met my family in Ireland during one of these sessions when we stayed with them.
She will be sadly missed and has gone too soon. Neither Karena or I were ever lost for words but I will leave it to the late John O'Donoghue, a poet and philosopher from the beautiful Burren area of Co.Clare where I grew up, to say it so well. Rest in Peace dear Karena. You are never more than a thought away.
On the Death of the Beloved
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of colour.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was live, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul's gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
John O'Donohue
Colette Quinn
12th May 2020