When we got the call on November 3rd that Patty’s youngest boy William died suddenly in his sleep, we took the next flight to see them. I’ve never seen Myryah so grief-stricken. We didn’t know what to do or what to say. Like everyone else in the family, we just wanted to be with the Karbans.
I was so impressed with the amount of love and compassion expressed by everyone who came to pay their respects. I kept thinking, what a close-knit community Bill, Patty and their kids have found in their part of South Bend, IN. I feel so proud and lucky to be a part of their family.
During the week after William’s passing, I witnessed so many emotions shared among the family and visitors. Lots of stories were told and there were many happy moments. We were glad to help out with the kids, run errands or do whatever little thing that we could do to help out. Most of the time we just hung out. We took lots of walks.
I almost left my camera behind because we were so rushed to leave home. A part of me thought it may be inappropriate to take pictures at such a sad time. We agreed that it would, at the very least, be an opportunity to get some shots of Vivian with her mother’s side of the family. I got lots of great shots;
here are just a few.
One day we were poring over a box of pictures of Willie T. Myryah noticed a photograph from Patty, Bill and Willie’s recent visit to San Francisco, just after Vivian’s birth. It was a shot of me holding my video camera over Vivian and William as they napped. Before this we were afraid that we had neglected to take any video of William. So, as soon as we got home we checked the tapes and found just a few minutes of him during their brief visit…
video of Willie T.
