text: In recent years, Carol began to realize the seasons of her own life were changing. She traveled with us to Coe College Homecoming in Cedar Rapids to say goodbye to some of her longtime friends. She donated her beloved Marvin Cone paintings to Coe College. She met with a lawyer and got her affairs in order. She started to explore different styles of watercolor, and her artwork become more abstract.
  Over the next several weeks and months, we will all, I am certain, search for tangible things to help us remember the important role Carol played in all of our lives. Just this morning, I looked at the clouds Carol painted on our son’s bedroom ceiling and I imagined peeling back the layers of paint in our daughter’s room to see the floral mural Carol painted for her when she was younger.
  Both our son and daughter remember dining at Carol’s house and wrestling for the rights of Carol’s Herman Miller chair. Our daughter remembers Carol’s wonderful chicken salad – the product of a famous Marshall Fields’s recipe she cut out of the newspaper years ago.
  Marisol simply can’t remember a time before Carol. She often thinks of their relationship as an infinity symbol. Though there were times when they were apart, their lives frequently overlapped and reconnected – at Coe College, the Center for Women in Transition, R.E.A.D., and at numerous family events. Marisol has always felt a connection with Carol, and always will.
  Over the weekend, I notified Dr. Stanley Watkins – a friend of Carol’s and Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Coe College – of her passing. Dr. Watkins told me, “…although it is sad news, in some ways that are hard to define, I always thought of her as ageless.”
  Most of us can appreciate that Carol’s physical appearance changed remarkably little over the course of her adult lifetime. I think the meaning behind Dr. Watkin’s comments, however, goes beyond Carol’s physical appearance.
  Carol showed us how to live a life filled with purpose and meaning. She helped us dream bigger and better dreams. She was a living demonstration of the power, and possibility, of love, kindness, warmth, and compassion. We became better people and built stronger communities because of her influence. In these and many other ways, Carol remains truly ageless.
  What a gorgeous tribute to this wonderful lady. I never knew her but with this story of her life and the impact she had on so many lives, I feel her spirit is alive. Thank you so much for sharing her story. I must confess I shed tears and realize that I also could be better. Sandra Miller