Her Gift Was Laughter, Even Through Illness

It was in the spring of 1983, during the Palm Springs phase of the Angels’ training, that Rod and Marilynn Carew invited my family to share Passover Seder at their rented condominium.

The Carew girls were there--Charysse, Stephanie and Michelle--along with my wife, son and daughter. It was a warm and relaxed evening, highlighted by the shared reading of the Haggada, the story of Passover, the exodus from Egypt.

It was while reading of God’s instructions to Moses in regard to the miracles that would help end the Israelites’ bondage that Carew came to a passage that said, “and you will take this rod in thy hands.”

The kids, led by Michelle, then the youngest at 5, were suddenly into it.

“This rod?” They were talking about Rod Carew in the Haggada? About Rod performing miracles?

Michelle giggled. The others tried not to, knowing it wasn’t quite appropriate, but were unable to resist.

Michelle had us going and we were soon all laughing hysterically in one of those wonderfully silly moments that make no sense unless you are part of it.

If Elijah had knocked on the door then--always an anticipated part of the Seder--no one would have heard over the merriment.

As if a freeze frame, I often thought of that moment, of the captivating Michelle, during her seven-month battle with leukemia. I saw her laughing, heard her laughing, thought, Why does it ever have to change?

With Michelle, it never did. Even during her long illness, she would greet her family with a smile, a joke, an attempt to lighten their pain and worry. She lost that battle on Wednesday but left a legacy, the priceless gift of a forever childhood. In our hearts she left us laughing.