My daughter Karen was born Nov. 6, 1968. Nov. 5 was election day and it was a real cliff-hanger. When Diane said, "It's time," we raced to Good Samaritan Hospital at 6am. They hadn't figured out yet who the new president would be. Those were the days when the guys would pace and smoke in the waiting room while the wife did all the work.
At 8:25 am Walter Cronkite came on TV with a news bulletin: Richard Nixon was elected president. Just then, the nurse stepped into the waiting room with a bulletin: "Mr. Lindstrom, your child has been born and you can come and look."
I thought, well, we'll name him Richard after the new president. Back in the delivery room was Diane, and she said, "She's got both her ears." Whoops, there goes the name Richard. We had already planned that her name would be Karen Beth. Well thought of during a ride to a Suns basketball game. I liked the name Linda. Linda Lindstrom, very melodic. But, Diane knew somebody named Linda who was a real schnook. The name Polly came up, but then there would be the constant "want a cracker" to follow.
Oh, about the reference to "she has both ears." I once knew a kid in school who had been born with only one ear and I was worried about that. She had both ears and she was a pleasure to behold. In the many years to follow she would be a great treasure for a both of us. A really special girl.
It is heartbreaking for a father to deliver this news, but, my daughter Karen passed away Friday, Aug. 16, 2019 with Renee and me at her bedside. The end was peaceful compared to the intense pain from cancer that had consumed her body in the weeks prior to passing. Her husband Ben was wonderful throughout, making sure she was cared for properly.
See the Arizona Republic Obit, HERE
