I believe Ken scheduled me for 3 minutes and 25 seconds for the
eulogy. I'll try to not disappoint him.
- Children never
see how much their parents love them. They only see us as the person who tells them NO and the one who corrects their mistakes.
Until they are parents they never know how hard it is for us to deny them anything. The harder it is, the more stern we get.
You children (and I include mine who are over 40) may not know this, but we parents love to look at you when you are sleeping. Were thinking, All those nasty
things they said to us an hour ago, they didnt mean them. You all look so angelic... when you're asleep.
Wasnt it heart-warming to watch Ken's eye when he talked about
Mary Jo and Ann Marie? He glowed, stood even a little more erect and got that persimmon-pucker to his lips whenever he spoke
of them. He finally learned how to show them, too.
I had a friend who passed away without his children ever feeling
their Dad's love. Thankfully, Ken let his love overcome his hesitancy and the word "love" came freely to him in his final
months.
Ken did it his way. These lines by Paul Anka fit him to a T.
I did what I had to do And saw it through without exception
I planned
each charted course Each careful step along the byway
and more, much more than this I did it my way
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew When I bit
off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt I ate it up and spit it out
I
faced it all and I stood tall And did it my way
A hero is not the one who is never afraid, only fools are never
afraid. The hero is the person who continues despite the fear. I had always thought that my Dad was fearless, and I thought
I was weak when I was afraid, then I realized that he must have felt fear at times, but never let me see it.
Then I realized, I hadnt let my kids see my fear, either. I did
not want them to grow up feeling that it was wrong to be afraid, just wrong to let it paralyze them.
Nothing stopped Ken when he felt he was right.
At Casa Blanca, I had a patient who complained that the Family
Doc assigned to him was not professional enough. I told him, Ive got the perfect doctor for you. He loved Ken.
When the Medical Director of Intergroup first met Ken he came
rushing to me and said, Ive found the perfect guy to do your Quality Assurance. He was right and eventually that led to the
Utilization work Ken did so well. Ken would not tolerate sloppy work and did not shrink from telling anyone when their work
didnt come up to his expecations.
- Ken was my friend
Im proud of that.
- Rest in the Peace
of the Lord, Friend, ...your job was well done.
