MN Kisses for Katie Johnson

LXO posted:
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From Katy Johnson.

Hi all,

This is Kathy. I'm writing to inform you all that Katie has beaten her
battle with Cancer. Katie passed away at 5:20pm Today. Myself Al and
Allie are trying to hold it together as best we can. We would appericate
no phone calls for a few days.

Katie's Funeral will be at 4:00pm on Friday at Riverland Hills Baptist
Church here in Columbia.

On behalf of myself and the entire family thank you for all you support
and prayers. Please keep Al and Allie in your prayers as well as Katie's
mother and step father. Al will be intouch soon.

Thank you
Kathy Johnson

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http://www.heartofanempire.com/Katie/index.shtml



Please keep the Johnson family in your prayers.

~Mirax

 

Hey everyone, we at ForKatie.org sent this email to the 501st group and thought it might be put to use here too. Please visit the site and check out these new updates to honor Katie....

To say we are saddened by this news is a tremendous understatement. Our hearts go out to Albin, Kathy, Allie, and the rest of the family.

In light of these events and in honor of Katie, we have made some changes to the site. Please take the time to look over them all.

DONATIONS TO FAMILY

With the loss of Katie, donations are now being accepted to help the family elieviate expenses for final arangements. If you would like to make a donation to Katie's family go to the site and click the appropriate link.


SUBMIT PHOTOS & MESSAGES

The new guestbook will remain open until October 9th for you to share your condolences and memories with Katie's family. Entries in this special guestbook will be hardbound and presented to Katie's family as a reminder of the difference she made in all of our lives. Send any photo you like, with you or your family holding notes of love and support and anything else you deem appropriate. They will be kept private until released to the family in the book. The text guestbook text however will be available for all to read now.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

If you wish to donate and make a difference in another child's fight, we strongly suggest making a memorial donation in Katie Johnson's name to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Make A Wish can send a card or e-mail on their behalf, to the family recognizing your gift. See details on our site.


Thank you all for your time,
Jay Thompson
Matt Myers


www.forkatie.org

www.heartofanempire.com





For the Make-a-wish, they need the name & addy you are donating to - let me know, I have their address.
~Mirax

 

TK-2769 posted:
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I just spoke with Kathy, and she said in lieu of flowers, if anyone wants to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Katie's name to please do so, that Katie would want other children to be able to go to Disney and enjoy it as much as she did (although flowers are also certainly appreciated and can be sent to either the home or the church). She also said they are looking into getting the contact information for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation so that anyone who wants to make other donations in Katie's name can give to that organization. I know Jay has posted information on how to donate to Make-A-Wish on the ForKatie site, and hopefully we will be able to get the PBTF information out soon as well.

Kathy also said that they are looking into the possibility of having a park bench dedicated to Katie at one of the parks in Columbia--if anyone is interested in donating to that and wants to send it through the PayPal account on www.forkatie.org , please mark on the memo line "For Park Memorial."
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posted by:
Skaught
Katie was recenlty made an Honorary Member of the 501st Legion, the first Child to receive the recognition. We created a trading card for her to commemorate the event. The cards were shipped to her house, arriving on her doorstep just 50-minutes before she passed away. Here is her card:


www.skaught.com/501st/proofs/HM_Katie.jpg

(posted the link for our dial-up users)


Scott



I'm glad she got to see her card. *brave*
And I know the RL is looking at doing one for her also.

 

Albin posted this message on the 501st board this morning.



From: Albin Johnson
Date: Thu Aug 11, 2005 8:46 am
Subject: Katie Johnson



As some of you may have already heard, my daughter Katie finally ended her battle with cancer on Tuesday when she passed away around 5:30 pm.
Katie's health had been declining so I began my leave of absence from work that day, not knowing that would be the day she would pass. Katie enjoyed a quiet morning with me and Kathy, watching t.v. and playing with her kittens. She asked me to put Star Wars Episode II on, then laid
down to take a nap. Hours later she passed away in her sleep. She was surrounded by both sets of parents, her oncologist, her hospice nurse, and her pastor. It was a minor miracle that everyone managed to be there at just the right time. I held Katie in my arms as she struggled with
her transformation, holding her close and reassuring her that it was okay to let go. She let out a deep and satisfying sigh with her last breath and it sounded just like when she was a baby. I must have held her for two hours.

Katie's older sister, Allie, was devastated by the news. But she's a trooper at heart and today she marched bravely to her first day of school in spite of her loss. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to go, and she said she had to - Katie had wanted to make the first day of school and couldn't, so Allie would do it for her. Katie's step-mom,
Kathy, turned in the math book Katie worked so hard on over the summer.
It was a beautiful day. Katie had passed at just the right time - waiting long enough to see Hilary Duff in person and seeing members of the Carolina Garrison who visited her on Saturday. But soon enough for Allie to have _just_ enough time to start fresh at school.

Katie's funeral will be held tomorrow, Friday August 12th, at Riverland Hills Baptist Church on St. Andrews Rd.in Columbia, SC. Service will be at 4 pm. Everyone who attends is encouraged to wear something pink, as that is what Katie would have wanted.

This is the most horrible experience of my life, but it is also the most incredible lesson I've had the privilege to witness. Katie fought cancer every step of the way, never complaining about her treatments or her disabilities. She was a plucky, wonderful child who told me she was not
afraid to die. A big fan of the LOTR character , Frodo, she remarked to me a couple weeks ago that Frodo was lucky to go in the boat over the seas to the undying lands, and likened that to real-world death. She said that there was no reason to cry, because over there there are no monsters and whoever goes over is happy and too busy having fun to miss those they left behind.

God was at work here, no matter what anyone says. Katie had two fathers, and her heavenly one just wanted her more than her earthly one and took her home. Through all the praying and hoping, I have always felt the spirit of calm that God's will would be worked even if I couldn't understand it. One day I will. I'll be in heaven and Katie will take me
by the hand and show me around and reassure me that everything was fine.
It's a nice dream I have.

I can't thank everyone adequately here for the love and encouragement you've all shown me and my family and to Katie herself. If you could only see the hundreds of cards and gifts and letters Katie received you'd know just how loved she was. I will forever be grateful to everyone for their support.

I will be mostly out of touch for some time but promise to return soon.
Please hug someone you love.

God bless you all.

Albin Johnson
Katie's dad

 

If anyone reading this wants to, we are looking at taking up a collection and sending it off for the Park Bench Memorial.

If you are interested, please PM me and we can get paypal arranged.



I'm going to wear pink tomorrow to work since I cannot make it to the funeral. I encourage others to do the same. Even if it's something little.




I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.....

 

Here's something I came across on our ff boards. It does a lovely job of commemorating sweet Katie.

I wish I could paint a memorial, or write up a grand story, but I
don't have the skills. But I took what I do know and created this
Tribute Video in memory of Katie

www.wizzer.org/video/Katie.wmv

Please right click and save to your computer to save on bandwidth,
it's aprox 20mb

-Biker Steve
TB-2801

 

From Cujo:


I just got home. I would've been home late last night but I had to stop in VA to crash for a few hours because I was physically and mentally wiped out.

It was a beautiful service. Everything about the day said Katie. From the melody of "SpongeBob Square Pants" before the service started, to the look in everyone's eyes as they said goodbye in their own way. The Reverend performed an outstanding sermon. Knowing that Katie loved to pinch people's noses and say "Honk", he left us all with a mental image of Katie tweaking the noses of the Apostles as she was welcomed into Heaven. I never want to forget that image.

When they played Jay's tribute video, there wasn't a dry eye to be found. While the day was tragic, it was also magical. It is something that I will carry with my for the rest of my life.

Katie's Memorial Video