It’s great to read some of the stories and memories of my sister. It was also quite touching yesterday at her celebration of life, to see how many lives she touched. I have so many memories it’s hard for me to pick just one to share.

If you knew Donna, you know that she was outspoken/candid, opinionated/passionate, stubborn/steadfast.

She was many, many things.

But at her core, she was simply love. And it spilled from her in large quantities every day.

The love and respect she had for nature and animals.

The love and care she gave to her patients.

The love and dedication she had for her friends and family.

The love and adoration she had for her babies and grand-babies and great-grand-babies…..and, of course, for Kirk – the great love of her life.

It’s natural, I suppose, to be filled with sadness and loss in the absence of those we love. But in Donna’s memory I choose to be filled with hope.

Hope that each of us will use our remaining days filling the lives of those around us with smiles and hugs and laughter, when necessary drying their tears and sometimes even challenging their patience.

Hope that, someday, we will each be reunited with Donna….and others we’ve loved and lost along the way.

To quote a character from one of Donna’s favorite writers – Stephen King –

“Hope, after all, is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing EVER dies.”

Here’s to Donna, to her life………her memory……and to hope.

One more memory from Donna's celebration of life:

There was a day Donna, Gary and I were drinking coffee at the kitchen table - Gary refilled his and Donna's cups. (Gary always had to have 2 heaping spoons of sugar.  Donna and I drank ours black.) Gary sat the cups down. Donna took a cup, took a drink, and her face showed her shock. Then with nothing else to do, she spit it back in Gary's cup. Gary says "What are you doing?", and she said "That's yours, and I couldn't swallow that syrup. We all laughed so hard. 

- Clellene 'CC' Johnson

Memories shared during Donna's celebration of life on Sunday, November 6, 2022:

• Always remember the first crocus of spring and how excited Donna would get ❤️- Anon.
• You were a bright shining light. Here's to good music, good wine and good weed. 😊 - Anon. 
• Donna was always in for a good time. Us making a ruckus in a store was on of my favorite memories. - Marla Hightower
• Donna has been a part of my life always, and she will be with me forever. When we got together it was always like we had never been apart. She could always make me laugh no matter what. I love you Donna. Sona Camp-Johnson
• I don't have words because there are none. It was how if you said you liked something, she was buying it. It was smuggling an obscene amount of snacks into the movies, just so you had all your favorites. It was taking everything but the kitchen sink to the beach, so everyone was comfortable. It was the way she gifted random items, because in some way she saw it she thought of you. It was the way she would take your face in her hands, gently pat your cheeks, and look you in the eye when she said "I love you.". And it was her onery laugh before she called us little shits. ❤️ It was babies and cats, Longaberger, Vera Bradley, and Beanie Babies, roses and orchids, and a straw in a Diet Pepsi can. If she loved you, you knew. - Anon. 
• The first time meeting both of you was such a pleasure, and I love you both so much! - El & Kass ❤️
• I love and miss you my cosmic twin. We were both born on Jan 2, just 3 years apart. Our birthday next January will be lonely sis. - Clellene 'CC' Johnson
• I was so fortunate to spend over 33 years with my best friend. Never will life be as good as it was with her. She made me smile, laugh, and made me a better person than I otherwise would have been. - Kirk Badgero