Karen and I called each other on the way into town that morning– as we so often do – to talk about the day.  It was a perfectly normal conversation.  I got to the venue a little before she did, and when she walked in, she still had her sunglasses on.  I asked, “Why do you have your sunglasses on?” As if I didn’t know!  Oh, I knew.  Those glasses are a tell tale sign.  It’s the beginning of a migraine!  And when Karen gets a migraine, her life shuts down for about 24 hours.  She gets very sick.  Well, that was not going to work today.  We did not have time for this migraine!  She and I had gotten there early to get all dolled up for the Fan Club party – one of our favorite events of the whole year.  Her pain was getting more and more intense.  Eventually we made her a bed by lining up a bunch of chairs, and she lay there in another world as a lot of commotion ensued around her.  What in the world were we going to do!  We can’t have a Fan Club party without one of the four of us!  We decided that we couldn’t disappoint all the fans, though, who had traveled so far to be here, so we headed out, without Karen, to talk to the press folks who had come.  We tried to explain to them what kind of pain she was in, and they were all very gracious.  At this point, we had no idea if she was going to make the party or not.  But just as we were finishing some interviews, she walked in the room.  It was like she rose from the dead!  What a trooper! We were surprised but so happy to see her.  We then walked into a room full of our sweet, loyal fans who are always a welcomed sight and feed us such great energy.  Karen made it like a champ through the party and then through a 350-person meet and greet.  She’s my hero! The show must go on, right!

-Kimberly