EVELYN CHRISTENSEN

July 9, 1949- October 14, 2026

I could write about Ev's many achievements and the glowing path of grace she has paved on this earth. But the Ev I knew would not have wanted that. She was, above all, a modest person who blushed and changed the subject when praised.

{Her family's obituary for her is linked here and speaks of imprint on many.}

Instead, I will write about what our friendship had meant and will continue to mean to me.

Ev came into my life during a very challenging stretch where I couldn’t see the road ahead clearly. She first reached out to me with a single sentence, “Sharing your journey, Mirka.” We both had a parent in a nursing home with dementia, and I had done what I never had before: ask for advice on a children’s writers’ chat board where we were both members.

From that moment, we walked hand in hand. The load got lighter, as the road got less bumpy. Long after Ev’s father left this world, and my mother followed a year later, we shared the joys of family, small triumphs and many challenges, and there was not a day when I didn’t wonder how I got such a gift of a true friend which I in no way had earned.

Now I am left with Ev’s many notes, meticulously written in the most beautiful handwriting, telling me she was the lucky one to have me in her life, when all along I knew it was the other way around. I thank God for Ev, the truest friend in need and in deed.

We met in person only once, when Ev and Ralph travelled to Oberlin, Ohio, while I was there to chaperon my daughter in an international piano competition. I cherish this photo of Ev and myself “making music” on keys painted on the street. Now she is singing with the angels, while I am left behind to pound the hard pavement.