Yesterday, TIE O’ THE DAY tipped its cap to my sister BT’s son on his birthday. Today, we pay a brief tribute to BT’s late brother-in-law, Don, who would have been 71 today. Don passed away two years ago—suddenly, and far too soon.
When BT married Kent Tucker in 1967, she gained Don as a brother-in-law. When Don got married a few months later, BT gained Karla. The four of them have always been dear friends. I must add this: From my perspective, it seems like “Don-and-Karla” has always been one word. I can’t remember a time, until Don died, that I ever said one name without the other. To speak of one, was to speak of both. They were a team. A comedy team, at that.
When my ex and I moved from Salt Lake City, sight unseen, to Arlington, VA in the early 90’s, it was Don-and-Karla who picked us up from the airport. (They had been living in the area for a number of years, where Don worked for the IRS and Karla was a pediatric ICU nurse.) It was late in the evening when our plane landed, and Don-and-Karla drove us and our luggage to the apartment we had rented quickly, and without ever seeing. The apartment was a hazard, and it seemed to me that Don-and-Karla tried to hide their instinct to run. We had a lease, and we’d have to make it work until we could figure out our next step. As Don-and-Karla left my ex and I in our new hovel, I’m sure they were more than a bit worried for us. They invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them that year, probably just to see if we were surviving our flea-infested, stinky living quarters.
About two years later, BT was accepted into a Master’s degree program at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.. Rather than commute from Pleasant View, UT to class in D.C. every day, BT needed to move to the D.C.-area for a year. Don-and-Karla opened up their house, inviting Betty, Kent, and their youngest kid to live with them for the duration of BT’s Master’s program. A more generous couple, I have never met.
Don was a booming presence in a room. I cannot imagine Karla without him. Their house must be so very quiet now. I hope their kids and grandkids keep Karla’s world loud and laughing. Don would want that for her. And I’m sure they do: They were raised that way, by Don-and-Karla.