Written Stuff

Memorial/Wake will be held on Saturday, May 10. Wake from 1 to whenever, with the tree planting at 3 and the tequila toast at 7?

Here's the Press Citizen Article Dede mentioned in the comments...

Alternative education pioneer, 'lady of letters' dies
Diana Paulina, 62, succumbs to cancer

By Rob Daniel
Iowa City Press-Citizen

Diana Paulina is being remembered as a strong woman who influenced the lives of alternative school students in Iowa City.

Paulina, 62, died early Monday following a lengthy battle with cancer. She had taught language arts, reading and drama at the alternative Community Education Center in the Iowa City School District for 14 years. In recent years, she had worked as vice president of Avalon Networks in Iowa City and as co-owner of da Woods Bed and Breakfast with her husband, Kevin Crawley.

Hani Elkadi taught with Paulina at CEC from 1984 until her resignation in 1998. He said she played an integral part in the growth of alternative education in Iowa City, including winning Educator of the Year from the Iowa Association of Alternative Educators in 1996. Elkadi said he, Paulina and current Tate High Principal Stephanie Phillips were part of the same generation of alternative educators.

"She would give hours and hours of time," Elkadi said of Paulina. "(Her death) closes a huge chapter of alternative education in this town."

Phillips said she became friends with Paulina while working as a coordinator in the district's Central Administrative Office, where the CEC was housed until 2005, when it became Tate High and moved into its own building at 1528 Mall Drive.

A painting depicting Paulina sitting on a crescent moon that had been recovered from the Lenoch-Cilek building downtown now is displayed at Tate High. Phillips said it represented Paulina's love of reading and students.

"She was a lady of letters," Phillips said. "I was always impressed with her ability to connect with disenfranchised young people. It's a huge loss."

One of the students she connected with was Katie Bender. Now a 33-year-old cosmetologist in Iowa City, Bender said Paulina was a great influence on her and anyone she came into contact with.

"She was an amazing woman," said Bender, a 1994 CEC graduate. "She was an independent, decisive voice. She had a great faith and determination to see the worth in everyone. She was very strong-willed, and she brought strength to her students."

Arrangements are pending at Lensing Funeral and Cremation Service, with no date set yet for services.

Here's my first draft of the obit:

Diana Paulina died peacefully Monday morning, after fourteen months of intense negotiations with lung cancer.

Diana was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1969. She spent five years in Europe, taking courses in what her father would call 'the school of hard knocks,' and then enrolled in the Alternative Education graduate program at Indiana University. After a brief stint at a one-room alternative school in central Iowa she moved to Iowa City to complete her Master's coursework.

In 1980, she co-founded and co-directed Unbound, Inc, a residential counseling center for people leaving cults. She was a language arts, reading and school of hardknocks teacher at the Iowa City alternative school, CEC, from 1984 to 1998. She also served variously as librarian, volleyball and softball coach, drama instructor, videographer, prom coordinator, banker, computer teacher and troubleshooter, assistant janitor and political agitater. She was an active member of the Iowa City Education Association, serving as both Vice-President and President. In 1999, she took a position with Avalon Networks. She retired from there in 2003 to care for her parents and to open da Woods Bed and Breakfast.

She was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, and she blogged much of the experience. Friends are invited to kevin-and-diana.blogspot.com for the gory details.

She loved wordplay, reading, music, gardening, crafts, learning and teaching. She was also pretty fond of her cohort of thirty years, Kevin Crawley. Diana approached everything she did with passion and determination, and she served as a role model, inspiration and font of wit and wisdom to her students, friends and family.

She is survived by her husband and her mother, Marie Paulina, both of Iowa City, her brother Carl Paulina, of Ann Arbor, MI, her sister Susan Johnson of Osceola, WI, as well as sixteen brothers-and-sisters-in-law, twenty-two nieces and nephews and a host of friends she called her 'Iowa City family.' She is preceded by her father, Walter "Shorty" Paulina.

A memorial will be held on Saturday, May 10 in da Woods at 2030 and 2040 Dubuque Road. A tree will be planted around 3 pm, with the wake going quite a bit longer. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Emma Goldman Clinic.

Writers and Biographers Needed

So, there's this obituary thing...

I do fancy myself a bit of a writer, but I don't much like deadlines. Anybody who'd like to throw in some thoughts (which may end up re-written, plagiarised or ignored) is welcome to chime in, either here or at my email at kevin@dawoods.com

Also, I wondered about putting the blog address in the obit. It might give people who didn't know what was going on a place to catch up, but as that includes your comments, let me know if you think its a bad idea.

There's a basic un-proofed fact sheet below.
I'm not all that hot on dates, particularly before we met in 78, so fill in where you can.


Born: December 12, 1946

Dearborn
College
Europe
Master's Degree
Unbound, 1981 - 1991
CEC, 1986? - 1999?
Avalon Networks
da Woods Bed and Breakfast - 2004 - present

Survivors:
Husband, Kevin Crawley
Mother, Marie Paulina
Brother Carl Paulina, Patty Turpen
Sister Susan Johnson, Brad Johnson
Father John Crawley and Olive
Sister Kathleen Crawley, Tim Dybevik
Sister Ellen Thorn, Mark Thorn
Sister Sara Poser, Steve Poser
Sister Colleen Schell, Doug Schell
Brother Dennis Crawley, Jane Pacheco
Sister Ann Crawley, Jeff Gerner
Brother Patrick Crawley, Kerry ODell Crawley

da Nieces: Valerie Johnson, LIllian Paulina, Amber Johnon, Carrie Johnson, Robin Dybevik, Lauren Schell, Elizabeth Thorn, Kathleen Thorn, Hanna Thorn, and Keira Crawley

da Nephews: Andrew Johnson, Andrew Dybevik, Joe Dybevik, Sam Poser, Gabe Poser, Patrick Schell, Gavin Crawley, Alexander Gerner, Christian Gerner, Liam Crawley and Emmet Crawley

Diana's Next Great Adventure

...began officially a couple of minutes ago. May God have mercy on us all.

Would a memorial next Sunday work, or should we push it to the weekend after?

The Eye of the Storm

-- a multi-leveled title.

Partly, it's the constant flow of visitors -- Nancy got here Wednesday (last Wednesday, now -- she left today), Carl left Thursday, Pat and Kerry arrived Friday, and Mom, Dad, Katie, Ellen, Sara, Colleen and Ann were here yesterday. There was mulching and raking and cooking and cleaning and we even managed to get my office at work ready for the new paint and carpet job next week. There are also the visits by Dede, Sam, Seth, Lee, Marcy, Janet and JJ (and I'm sure I've forgotten a couple). I got to chat with everyone, I think, and everybody hung out with dp at one time or another, but it still kind of feels like it all goes on around us.

There's also the weirdness of waiting. Behind us is a little over a year of battling with cancer -- four surgeries, three months of chemo, and forty-one radiation treatments, and ahead, the imminent death of a woman who's meant a lot to all of us. Right now, though, we're in between, hanging out and reading Harry Potter (We're getting close to the end of book 6 now!)

Finally, there's the concept of jumping in the dungpit -- once you're in there, it's not as terrible as it looks from the outside. I remember trying to empathize with what I thought at the time was the horror of others who've been in similar situations, but now that I'm there, I'm reminded of what Sam said when he moved to Cedar Rapids -- "It's not that bad." dp is not in pain -- there was a bad headache on Monday, but that seems to have been a one-day deal. She's also not zonked out on painkillers -- we've learned that aside from being available when you push it, the PCA is also doling out 1 mg/hour as a baseline, but she's pretty used to that now. Some days are better than others, but every day is still worthwhile.

There are a bunch of photos showing the highly-presentable Woods, but for today, all you get is the the chemo-cap models...

Back in DaWoods again

Hello all, it's tonight's guest blogger. I arrived this afternoon after an uneventful trip and apparently brought the first warm day of the season with me. Everyone has commented on how nice the weather is today. (Must be my sunny personality.)

I must say it is good to be here. There is something magical about these woods. People say that about my space in New Mexico, too, but I really feel it here. There are bits of green peeking up through the ground and the birds are singing.

In terms of an update, I don't think there's much new to report. dp gave me her big smile when I arrived and wants to ensure that I am getting enough chocolate. I think Kevin has done a good job of describing her in and out states. Just when you think she is off in her own world, she says something that lets you know she's right here with you.

Rumor has it that we may be seeing some of you this weekend. I'm looking forward to it!
Nancy

A Sunday Sort of Update

Yes, we did finish The Goblet of Fire, and we're now on chapter 12 of The Order of the Phoenix. We spend a fair amount of the day reading.

Food just magically appears. My mom's been cooking and baking, as has Patty, and Cinda stops off every couple of days with various goodies. I fried myself a meatloaf sandwich for lunch, and that's the most I've put toward food preparation or cleanup in a week. Tonight Patty is cooking a Roman something -- she says it's the meal she gets for her birthday. I don't know anything more about it, except that it smells pretty good up there.

We continue to hang out in da Woods -- the weather's still pretty crappy, but Dede noticed Bardo the barred owl over across the ravine, and they say it'll hit 60 by Tuesday. Life, as they say, goes on...

Oh yeah, Nancy provided the photo.

Another Friday in da Woods

Well, what to say? dp looks like she's in better shape today than she was when she came home last week. She's not eating or drinking a whole lot, but as long as we don't move her around or bump the bed much, she's in no pain -- she still has the morphine PCA, but she hasn't hit the button in a couple days now. She does have a harder time distinguishing her dreams from what I'm calling reality, but she's still on top of things most of the time.

Lily flew back to NYC today. Perry heads back to Oregon on Sunday, and Patty is training back to Ann Arbor on Monday. Mom is still here, making food and entertaining visitors and generally holding down the fort.

So, we hang out while we can. We have said all the important stuff, I think. It really comes down to the same three words -- "I love you." Do yerself a favor, and say it to someone today.