2nd Annual Tommy's Run For a Reason

Today there were 17 of us that participated for the first time in a SUDC (Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood) fundraiser.  There were a ton a people that came out, and we are looking forward to hearing how much money was raised for the SUDC Program. Samantha and her friend, Katie, participated in the 5k run, and the rest of us joined in the 2k family fitness walk. There was a delicious catered barb-b-que lunch, pony rides, face painting, hair braiding, dancing, balloon making, and fire trucks at the Algonkian Regional Park. There were also so many great donated items for the raffle, and a silent auction of some very high-end items.  Three of us out off the group actually won some very nice things in the raffle. The kids had a great time, and it was nice for us to meet some other families that have had to suffer the tragic loss of a child, just like our loss of Kara.  We wore our Kara buttons, and everyone that saw her talked about how beautiful she is in the picture. I kept thinking about how much fun Kara would have had today if she were there with us--but if she were with us we never would have known about SUDC, and wouldn't have been at the park today for the fundraiser. We also met Laura Crandall, the Director of the SUDC Program, and she is just an amazing person. I'm so thankful for all that she does, and how supportive she is to our family, and all the other families that are registered with the program.  We are so glad we participated today, and that our family and friends came to support us. 

Front Yard Color

Last week Tim worked very hard to pull out the old evergreens that were completely smashed by the massive amount of snow that fell here last winter. We decided the new landscaping should have more color, so Tim planted beautiful flowering bushes, and we are really happy with the results.

Pictures of Kara at Daycare

Kara's last daycare provider recently shared some pictures that she took of our sweetheart while she was taking good care of her.  The picture with goggles is one of our favorites!

Love those smiles--and miss them so much.  Kara really did love to paint.

SUDC

The Sudden Unexplained Death In Childhood Program (SUDC) was created in September 2001 within the CJ Foundation for SIDS. It is tasked with providing a centralized resource for information, support and advocacy. It serves families and professionals affected by the tragedy of SUDC, and promotes awareness of SUDC in communities.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) is… the sudden and unexpected death of a child over the age of twelve months, which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation is conducted. This must include: examination of the death scene, performance of a complete autopsy, and a review of the child and family’s medical history. SUDC is a diagnosis of exclusion - given when all known and possible causes of death have been ruled out.

www.sudc.org

SUDC was determined to be our Kara's cause of death. Before Kara died, we had never heard of SUDC. We knew about SIDS, and breathed a 'sigh of relief' when Kara's first birthday passed, and she was thriving.  Little did we know that we would only have about 1 1/2 years left to enjoy our amazing, sweet, little girl. 

Spring Break in Destin

The three of us joined Tim's parents, John & Ellen, and Tim's sister, Anne, in Destin, Florida for Spring Break! The weather was beautiful and in the low 70's all week. We enjoyed delicious food, cooked by John, and two scrumptious seafood dinners at local restaurants.  We also had fun at the beach, the pool, and shopping.  Kathy & Samantha got henna tattoos. Kathy's tattoo is the ladybug with wings--definitely a reminder of Kara. 

Last night...

As Tim was grilling on our back deck, this is what he saw....Isn't the sky beautiful? It reminds us of Kara. We know our angel is up there. :)

Beautiful & Fun Weekend

The weather was in the 70's all weekend, and Kathy's best friends from college were in town visiting! Sue and Sharon flew in from Rhode Island, and we enjoyed catching up ( LONG talks), soaking in the hot tub, eating out, and the hilarious movie 'Bounty Hunter' at the Alamo Cinema Drafthouse. Can't wait to visit with them again. Tim and I are planning a visit to see them in RI during the summer. :)

The Music Room

Kara's bedroom is now our new music room. It was Tim's great idea, and is very fitting because of Kara's love of music.  We had the 'keepsake' from Kara's memorial service framed, and we are so pleased with the way it looks. As you can tell in the pictures, we displayed some of Kara's favorite things in the room. We look forward to spending time playing music in the room, relaxing, and thinking about all of the beautiful memories we created with Kara during her life.

Blog Book

Our first blog, http://karaannelang.blogspot.com, as most know, was started to document the birth and adoption of our daughter, Kara.  The blog began about two weeks prior to Kara's birth, and ended after her memorial service on January 2, 2010.  Tim found a very cool website, www.blurb.com, that can be used to turn a blog into a book.  Tim was able to format each of the approximately 275 pages exactly the way he wanted. He enlarged pictures and arranged everything beautifully.  Kathy helped with the editing, and some of the content.  After we were completely satisfied with the design, it was uploaded and published. We couldn't be happier with the outcome. It is the most special book of our Kara, that we will treasure forever. 

We wanted to let everyone know that it is available for purchase, if you are interested in owning your very own copy. As I mentioned before, it's a large book--over 275 pages, and contains more than 600 pictures.  If you are interested, you can contact Tim at his email address, tmlang74@yahoo.com. 

Pittsburgh Trip

Tim and Kathy spent a long weekend together in Pittsburgh, PA, and celebrated their 5th anniversary. We stayed at the Marriott downtown, where it snowed several of the days while we were there...and it was cold.  Will this winter ever end???  The time alone was great, and we ended up really enjoying our weekend.  The visit to the Carnegie Natural History & Art Museum was fun and interesting. The highlight of our trip was the concert at the Mellon Arena on Saturday night. Tim took a picture of the arena outside of our hotel room--which was upgraded to a suite at no extra charge. :)  We listened to Caleb Chapman, Kutless, and our favorite band, Casting Crowns.  The concert was awesome, which made the trip very worthwhile.

The Kara Anne Lang Memorial Scholarship

The Lang and Hennessey families have established the Kara Anne Lang Memorial Scholarship, at Eastern Kentucky University.  This endowed scholarship will be awarded annually to a junior or senior music education student who we hope will inspire children to love music as much as our Kara loved music.  We have been fortunate to start this as an endowed scholarship, and have committed to annual giving for the next 16 years.  The 16 years is significant because that is when Kara would have started college.  Kathy and Tim plan on giving well beyond the 16 year mark to make sure the scholarship has a solid endowment to continue long after we have joined Kara in heaven.

We are asking family and friends who love Kara to consider donating towards her scholarship.  Over the next several years those donations will make a big difference in a student's education and their future--in Kara's honor.

For those who may wish to donate to that effort, checks should be made to the EKU Foundation with Kara Anne Lang Memorial Scholarship written in the memo line.  The mailing address is:

EKU Development Office
CPO 19A
521 Lancaster Avenue
Richmond, KY  40475

In case you were wondering...Eastern Kentucky was chosen because Kara’s father, Tim, her grandparents, Tom and Barbara Hennessey, great-grandparents, and other members of the family are Eastern Kentucky alumni.

Celebrating February Birthdays

Thankfully we didn't have any more snow this weekend, and we were able to travel to Virginia to celebrate Aidan's and Krista's birthdays. Aidan turned 8 yrs old on February 8th, and Krista turned 35 on February 9th. We enjoyed a very nice brunch, as well as cake and yummy cupcakes. Although it was really good to spend time with all of our family, it was the first time we have gotten together for a special occasion without Kara being there with us.  It seemed very obvious to Tim and Kathy that Kara was missing, and that was difficult.  We know our angel Kara will always be with us in our hearts.