Big Marie died in 1991 of respiratory failure (she'd previously battled two bouts of lung cancer), and her beloved husband, Jimmy, who was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, passed away two years later. Karen lives on her own in a specially equipped apartment and works as a secretary at a Catholic Retreat. Kristin married her high school sweetheart, Simon Viltz, and lives in Illinois. Little Marie divorced Ronald Smiley and eventually remarried. Glo and Russ were married for just over 40 years and died within three months of one another in 2001/02. I found out that there was still much tragedy ahead for the Killilea family. I sensed a research project, and spent many hours online and in the library. I checked out the title at and found that there were lots of other Karen readers out there who were wondering the same thing. Over the years, I'd occasionally re-read WLFK and wonder whatever happened to Karen and her family. Marie worked tirelessly to find and unite other parents of CP children and eventually helped to found the Cerebral Palsy Association. Several years went by before they were able to get a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, and even more time elapsed before they found a specialist who could treat Karen. Her limbs seemed unusually stiff, she never rolled over in her crib, nor did she make an effort to reach for the toys offered to her. She spent her first nine months in what would now be called a neo-natal intensive care unit, and when she finally went home her parents noticed that something was amiss with their daughter. To summarize, Karen was born (in 1940) three months premature and wasn't expected to survive. When I was well enough to go to the library, I checked out the author's first book, Karen, and basically read the story of the Killilea family in reverse.
I first read With Love from Karen years ago when I was home sick with pneumonia.
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