On Saturday morning… yesterday... Karen Ressegieu of La Vista, Nebraska woke up at 6:15am to finish preparing a cake that she and her husband of over 50 years Jim, Pastor Jim, were going to bring to a funeral lunch at church later that morning in nearby Omaha.
Only it didn’t turn out that way.
Said Karen, "I woke up at 1:30 a.m., and he was still breathing. So, I evidently, I went back to sleep, I'd never heard him. And at 6:15 a.m. I got up because we had a funeral that morning."
After trying to wake up her husband, Karen called neighbors, who quickly came over, and 911.
The medics came, as did four La Vista police officers.
After CPR and other life saving efforts, Jim was gone.
Friends and neighbors were there to comfort Karen, who was clearly in shock.
Apparently it hadn’t quite sunk in yet, and she kept telling her friends that she had to get the cakes ready.
"She had a lot going on, she had some neighbors stopping by trying to figure things out, get information from her. And she had mentioned about three times that she had to get a cake frosted, they were supposed to attend a funeral that morning," said Officer John Danderand.
Absorbing others grief on a regular basis can be most taxing.
So whilst her friends and neighbors tried to sooth her and just be there for her, Officer Danderland and Sgt. Kraig Gomon went into the kitchen, finished baking the cupcakes, got the icing whipped, and frosted the cakes.
Quietly.
Reverently.
They then delivered the cakes to the church.
Quietly.
Reverently.
Said Sgt. Gomon, "She was just more worried about everybody else than herself. And that was what struck me the most as her kindness. And for me, it was a small gesture for us to be able to try to return that to her."
And so they did.
Pastor Greg Applequist of First Covenant Church described Karen and Jim as “Just the very small, not very flashy, very faithful, very steady people. That's who they are."
Said Karen, “The morning was a blur. They just showed lots of kindness, you know, going out of their way. They didn't get to taste that cake, so I've got to make another cake and just bring it over there to them.
Life is short. It's very fragile. Take care of one another."
A devastating, sad and somber day, made just a little sweeter by a simple kind gesture.
What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through?
A box of rain will ease the pain
And love will see you through.