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It’s Sunday afternoon, pre-Super Bowl, and I’m watching a very interesting documentary on my local PBS television station about the music of The Carpenters. We lost the voice of an angel when Karen died at nearly 33 years of age in 1983 of complications of anorexia nervosa. In fact, three days ago was the 33rd anniversary of her death. Time goes so quickly. I went back to her Wikipedia article to learn more about her life and read the following:
“After a whirlwind romance, she married real-estate developer Thomas James Burris on August 31, 1980, in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Burris, divorced with an 18-year-old son, was nine years her senior. A new song performed by Carpenter at the ceremony, “Because We Are in Love”, was released in 1981. Burris concealed from Carpenter, who desperately wanted children, the fact that he had undergone a vasectomy. Their marriage did not survive the deceit and ended after 14 months.[22] In addition to that, Burris was said to have been broke and living well beyond his means, borrowing up to $35,000 and $50,000 at a time from his wife to the point of where she only had stocks and bonds left.[23] He was also said to have been abusive towards her, often being impatient with Karen, who shared with close friends that she remained fearful when he would occasionally lose his temper with her.[24] Close friend Karen “Itchie” Ramone shared one incident where she and Carpenter went to their normal hangout, Hamburger Hamlet, and Karen appeared to be distant emotionally, not sitting at their regular table but in the dark, and wearing large dark sunglasses, unable to eat and was crying. According to Itchie, the marriage was ‘The straw that broke the camel’s back. It was absolutely the worse thing that could have ever happened to her.'[25]”
Haunting similarities to what Helen has been experiencing. We didn’t know much about eating disorders at the time of Karen Carpenter’s death, but as has been discussed by Lucy and Roifield, it seems that in 2016, having gone through a previous episode and recovery, Helen’s family should be much more attuned to the signs in a loved one of this devastating illness.
I was just thinking the same about it being unconvincing that Helen’s family haven’t spotted the signs and aren’t sympathetic. No one who has known someone with anorexia would say things like “what is she thinking” and “she’s hurting the baby”. It’s not a logical rational thing, and not a case of simply deciding not to eat (or being able to simply decide to eat properly again).
She probably isn’t hurting the baby anyway – the baby always has first dibs at nutrition in the womb. The baby will be fine. It’s Helen that’s not, in every physical and psychological way possible.
Bit confused by Rob stating she’s “hardly Kim Kardashian, DARLING”, when he also wants her to wear charity shop clothes because as we all know Maternity clothes are usually incredibly slutty.
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