This afternoon I received the sad news that a friend of mine had passed away quite unexpectedly. She was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer only two weeks ago. I met Carol Newton Hawk in 2005 when I joined the Sacramento Choral Society. She was a fellow soprano and our librarian, something I figured out very quickly meant she was a saint. She not only sorted and put together the music for all two hundred people for the four concerts each year, but then she took back the music, made sure it was in good condition and filed it away again. Beyond that, she was an incredibly talented musician. She sang beautifully along with playing piano and organ like nobody’s business.

My heartfelt condolences go out to Carol’s husband, children, and grandchildren. She touched so many lives – within a couple of hours a remembrance page set up on Facebook already had over 100 likes. I spent the whole afternoon feeling like I had been kicked in the stomach… I hate cancer.

Requiescat in pace, Carol. You will be greatly missed.