Karen Erickson

Teacher at Bloomington High, Karen Erickson.Congratulations to both recipients.

Other than scraps of contorted metal, pools of silver melted engine parts now hardened and crumbled stucco walls, little remains of the trilevel home with beige and green trim where Karen Erickson, 47, and her husband, Joel, 48, raised two daughters.

On a recent visit, though, Karen Erickson, a Bloomington High School teacher, discovered her bed of daffodils had emerged from its winter dormancy.
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Karen Erickson said she hopes a new home will be built by fall, but she doesn't know for sure.

In some ways, much of the time since the fire has been cloaked in unknowing darkness.Where would they live?How would they replace memories built over years the family's personality?

It's been in those darkest moments, the times that shook Karen Erickson to tears or made her youngest daughter want to avoid visits to their destroyed house, that the family has come across nuggets of light.

Karen Erickson dug through ash three times before discovering her grandmother's sapphire ring.