My Sister Deb

Two months ago we found out that Joel's sister Debbie had ovarian cancer.

Two weeks ago she died of complications from her chemotherapy.

She was 44, spent the last 8 years married to an incredible man, and was the step-mom for his son and daughter, now in their early 20's.

Deb lived her short life well... she did all the things most of us say we want to do... see the world, fall in love, make a difference.

Deb and I were going to the same college when Joel and I started dated. As soon as she caught on to our interest in each other she would greet me with a big smile and say, "Hello future-possible-sister-in-law"... I loved that.

As the sister of 4 brothers, she held her own on the teasing front and took the best of her parents into her own individuality. She loved the children in her life, and each of her neices and nephews laid a flower on her casket at her burial, along with her grown kids.

She kept long-time friends and constantly engaged in new relationships. She loved the globe and all the people of it... serving those in Asia and Africa. She had a huge heart for foreign students and spent many years teaching English as a second language and tutoring international students at the University of Lethbridge. Their flag flew at half mast in her honor.

Hundreds of friends and family came out to celebrate and mourn this remarkable woman last Monday in Lethbridge. We watched her friends from her choir sing for her, sing for us, and wipe their tears as they did it. We watched international students break down at her grave site. We saw their community rally around my brother-in-law Ron, and us, her family.

As we spent a few days together as her friends and family we were able to share memories, shed tears and gain perspective. Life can be short. Live it well.

So, now that we are coming out of the fog, catching up on sleep, realizing that there will always be a little part of us that is sad, we will carry on her legacy:

Debbie Kern Kullman lived out her faith every day.

She loved... LOVED the people God brought into her life.

She served... SERVED sacrificially, using her gifts and talents to honor her Creator and the people around her.

She cared... CARED for the poor, and has a family of children she and Ron have sponsered... no, more than that, she wrote and invested and took interest in these special people in her life... she and Ron dreamt of visiting each one of them.

Thank you, Deb, for being an amazing woman, a great sister, and loving friend, a courageous light in these last months, and inspiring example of love and truth. We miss her, but we do not grieve like people who have no hope, because we know that when Jesus said, "I'm going to prepare a place for you", he meant it. She is home, and whole and perfect. And knowing that makes it just a little easier to deal with our reality without her.

If you knew her or would like to, this is the link to a slideshow of photos from her life.

Thanks to all our friends who have checked in and cared for us these last 2 weeks... your love and prayers have been so appreicated. The pic below is the rest of us Kerns & Kullmans after her celebration, and a few shots from the day.

http://www.caringroup.com/slideshow/kullman/Debbie.html