On the Breath of Dawn

This afternoon at the Gulf we said our goodbyes to Karen Cater. Her nineteen year-old son Reid did his mama proud and told us all, "If my mother had her way, we'd all be dancing in the aisles, clapping and singing, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'..." Of course she'd want the Rolling Stones. It would figure that Karen would take her last bow on Mardi Gras day. We wept, but Reid told us that wasn't what Karen would have wanted.

So we reminisced about our own experiences with the globe-trotting photographer and actress. Photographs of Karen brought back memories...a flower child in New York City, an actress, a very pregnant mom in a string bikini...ooh la la Karen

If you ran in off-Broadway theater circles in New York you may have met her. If you were in children's theater in Gulf Shores, or Chicago, or Fairhope, you may have met her. You certainly would never forget her if you heard her husky laugh and wonderful rich voice. Karen was a friend who gave as good as she got. She always looked like a gypsy floating into rooms waving a cigarette and toasting with a glass of wine. Her wolf, ancient and shaggy and white, followed her with his eyes when he grew too old and tired to be her shadow. The rest of us followed her lead as if she were the Pied Piper.

Dance with the angels, Karen.