2008 Woodie Awards
Kaitlin Mahr: Father's Eulogy
Anne Aaker
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Enterprise
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Kaitlin Elizabeth Mahr
Kaitlin was joy and pleasure, she was also frustration and aggravation…I guess as all children are. She was intelligent and inquisitive, characteristics we fostered, as many of you experienced. Dance was pure happiness for her. She worked hard at dance, yet had true enjoyment when she danced, you could see it on her face and in her movements. She was, to me, the meaning of beauty in form and function. Her involvement in The Nutcracker changed how we looked at the holidays.
Kaitlin was my "equal" -- luckily she had her Mom's beauty, but she had my sarcastic, inquisitive manner. In middle school she did peer to peer counseling, in college she got involved with V-Day. This was centered on her desire to generate broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls. I think she also liked being provocative, in people's faces with "I Love Vaginas" bumper stickers and chocolate vaginas to sell as fundraisers!
Kaitlin could hold her own in our rounds of debate and sarcastic jousting; however, she was the only one who could ever tell me to "shut up and be serious." She was a part of my life and soul…she was my Princess.
Over the past few years, she was a princess in a battle and fight with depression. There were good days and bad days. During high school she was so driven and so studious that she rarely let the depression evolve. She was a straight-A student, [yet] at the awards ceremony her senior year she really didn't care about the scholarships received -- she cherished most the Academic Achieveement Awards, voted on by the teachers…she rocked!
During her first year of college, the battle with depression took an ugly turn, and started to gain ground. She battled gallantly, and during this time wrote the following verse and poem which she put all together in a keepsake for my birthday that year:
"Once upon a time a beautiful baby girl was born to a very lucky man.
She grew into a lovely woman and one day her father sent her away to college.
Kaitlin was joy and pleasure, she was also frustration and aggravation…I guess as all children are. She was intelligent and inquisitive, characteristics we fostered, as many of you experienced. Dance was pure happiness for her. She worked hard at dance, yet had true enjoyment when she danced, you could see it on her face and in her movements. She was, to me, the meaning of beauty in form and function. Her involvement in The Nutcracker changed how we looked at the holidays.
Kaitlin was my "equal" -- luckily she had her Mom's beauty, but she had my sarcastic, inquisitive manner. In middle school she did peer to peer counseling, in college she got involved with V-Day. This was centered on her desire to generate broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls. I think she also liked being provocative, in people's faces with "I Love Vaginas" bumper stickers and chocolate vaginas to sell as fundraisers!
Kaitlin could hold her own in our rounds of debate and sarcastic jousting; however, she was the only one who could ever tell me to "shut up and be serious." She was a part of my life and soul…she was my Princess.
Over the past few years, she was a princess in a battle and fight with depression. There were good days and bad days. During high school she was so driven and so studious that she rarely let the depression evolve. She was a straight-A student, [yet] at the awards ceremony her senior year she really didn't care about the scholarships received -- she cherished most the Academic Achieveement Awards, voted on by the teachers…she rocked!
During her first year of college, the battle with depression took an ugly turn, and started to gain ground. She battled gallantly, and during this time wrote the following verse and poem which she put all together in a keepsake for my birthday that year:
"Once upon a time a beautiful baby girl was born to a very lucky man.
She grew into a lovely woman and one day her father sent her away to college.
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