From children with nut allergies to a tendency toward luck,
these South Valley women each have stories to tell
As regular readers know, we have this theory: Everyone has something noteworthy or interesting about them. We’ve proved the theory in the past by picking random names – Sue, Mike, Sara and John – and looking up three people by those names in the phone book. Each had a unique story.
Today, we continue proving the theory with yet another name, again choosing people at random from the South Valley phone book.
Here are three very different stories about a gal named Karen.
Karyn Garcia, Hollister
Karyn Garcia and her husband, Paul, deal with all the regular stresses of being parents. But when it comes to their two sons, Alec, 3, and Dominic, 7, they have a bigger challenge than most other parents face: Both of their sons are deathly allergic to nuts. So, Karyn gave up her job in nutritional science to be a stay-at-home mom to her boys and to become their advocate.
“It’s really a terrifying thing,” Karyn said. “Our big fear isn’t that they’re going to eat a nut. Our big fear is that something will happen that they’ll be exposed to cross-contamination. For example, they can’t eat M&Ms because regular M&Ms are packaged at the same plant as peanut M&Ms. So, there’s a chance they came in contact with nuts, even if it was just through small particles in the air. It’s things like that we worry about.”
Karyn sits down with the boys’ teachers every year before school starts, explaining to them the severity of her children’s allergies, that anything with any kind of nut will make them have a reaction, and about the epinephrine “pen” that is really a large needle full of strong antihistamine that would need to be stuck into one of her son’s thighs if he began having a serious reaction.
“We plan as much as we can, but accidents still happen,” Karyn said. “On Alec’s first day of preschool, his friend gave him a peanut butter Ritz cracker. He was just about to eat it when his teacher stopped him. Another time, Dominic was playing with a ball, and someone must have touched it who had been eating nuts or something, because he got a hive where he’d touched the ball.”
Karyn also has to explain to family and friends that even hand soaps and lotions have to be checked before the boys can be exposed to them. Some may contain ingredients such as almond extract or shea butter, which comes from nuts. Karen buys the boys special treats, such as candies that resemble M&Ms and Hershey Kisses, but are made by a Vermont company that caters to people with food allergies. None of the candies have been exposed to nuts.
“We’re lucky, because most adults understand that our boys could die from contact with nuts,” she said. “If the boys are at a birthday party, parents will call and ask if it’s OK for them to have whatever food is there. We had a birthday party for the boys at a movie theater, and the guy working at the concession stand was going to give them both packets of M&Ms. But all their little friends started saying, ‘They can’t have M&Ms, they might have nuts in them,’ and basically educated the guy working there about nut allergies. It was awesome to watch. They were really watching out for our boys – and they’re just little boys themselves.”
Going out to eat is another teaching opportunity for both restaurant employees and Karyn’s sons. Karyn has taught the boys to ask questions about their foods, such as if certain menu items contain any kind of nut or if anything is fried in peanut oil. The boys also know they can’t get pastries from places where a common set of tongs may be used on items containing nuts as well as the items without.
“Things are difficult, but we often stop and think how blessed we are to have such special friends,” Karyn said. “And everybody has something in life they have to cope with. This is ours, and we always remind ourselves that it could always be worse. We’re grateful for what we have, and we keep trying to educate people and raise awareness of how serious food allergies can be.”
Karen Garnett, Morgan Hill
Karen Garnett has a passion for art, and it shows in her paintings, many of which are featured in Gallery Morgan Hill, the Gilroy Museum and Casa Galleria in San Juan Bautista.
“I’ve painted off and on all my life –  it’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing,” she said. “I have degrees in art history, and I was able to teach art history while I was living in Europe when my husband was in the Army. At this point, I’ve done over 250 paintings.”
Karen’s mother, sister and one of her two daughters have all enjoyed painting, so artistic flair seems to run in the family. Though Karen has painted with watercolors, acrylics and other mediums, she said she prefers using oil paints with a pallet knife. She belongs to a painting group that meets once a month at different sites to work on paintings. The group selects a different theme each year.
“We paint almost exclusively out of doors,” Karen said. “I love doing open-air paintings. Our themes have included wineries, Big Sur, and this year, we’re doing historic sites for the Morgan Hill centennial. I think if I had to pick a favorite thing to paint, it might be seascapes. When we painted at Big Sur, I really enjoyed the colors in the water. There are so many variations of color along the coast, from blue violet to turquoise to blue-green. And you certainly couldn’t ask for a nicer place to sit and paint than Big Sur.”
Trying to capture light in her paintings is another thing Karen said she particularly enjoys. Having studied the greats – such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Velasquez – she said she appreciates how difficult the work can be.
Karen is currently working on a painting of the front of the Methodist Church in Morgan Hill, which she said is a challenge because of all the lines and angles. She joked that getting one rock out of place in the Big Sur paintings is quite different from getting the lines of the church wrong.
“I just find great pleasure in doing this,” Karen said. “I think anyone likes to find a sense of accomplishment in whatever they do in their spare time, and I certainly feel that when I paint.”
Karen McCarry, Gilroy
Karen McCarry is a lucky lady, and people tease her about it often enough. She’s been known to win raffles, drawings and bunko, so people frequently ask if she plays the lotto. (She doesn’t – she doesn’t like to lose.)
More than luck with bunko or raffles, Karen is lucky because she described herself as someone who is very happy with how her life turned out.
“I’ve got a great husband, John, and great kids, Cailin, Clare and Owen,” she said. “I teach a fourth-grade class of 34 kids at Luigi Aprea (Elementary School in Gilroy), and I have a truly great group of students.”
Karen is essentially living her lifelong dream. She said she’s wanted to be a teacher since she was a child, and that’s what she’s done for the last 18 years.
“I love teaching because when you see your students finally get something you’ve been trying to explain, a light goes on in their eyes,” Karen said. “I get to expose them to new subjects, which often end up being springboards to lots of discussion. It’s very rewarding. I’m a very structured teacher, and I’m probably a little tough, but it’s because I know my students will succeed.”
Karen’s two daughters attend Luigi Aprea, and she often gets to teach art lessons in other classes, including her daughters’. Her son is still in preschool, but he will likely go to Luigi Aprea, too. Karen said she feels fortunate raising her family in the town where she and her husband grew up and having both her parents living close by, ready to help whenever it’s needed.
Karen met John through St. Mary’s youth group when they were both in high school. They reconnected several years later and eventually married. Once, in passing, Karen mentioned that she liked the idea of a mother’s ring, which is a ring that holds the birthstone of each child. This past Mother’s Day, John remembered the comment and gave her a ring featuring her three children’s birthstones. Karen commented about what a great job he did as she looked down at the ring on her finger.
Karen’s family and faith are extremely important to her, and she said she often counts her blessings.
“I went to Catholic school for 17 years – from elementary school through college,” she said. “I’ve always been grateful for that education, because my religion and my belief in God provided me with a foundation that helps me raise my family. I try to instill these morals in my children, and I think my children will pass them down to their children.”
Karen said while it’s always nice to be lucky, she never expects to win anything. Her life has been full of good fortune as it is, and anything else is just a bonus.
Kelly Savio is the Lifestyles reporter for South Valley Newspapers. Reach her at (408) 842-2205 or ks****@**********rs.com.
