Two years later, Karen's family is celebrating her abbreviated life with the opening of a memorial garden near the Rio Rancho library.

An opening ceremony for the Healing Garden is set for Saturday at 10 a.m.

Since Karen's death, an impromptu memorial has grown on the side of the road near the crash site. Friends and family members have left candles, flowers, stuffed toys, balloons, Bibles, and notes next to a cross bearing Karen's picture and a plaque that notes "DUI kills." One message tucked in with her photograph says "Thank you for being the light of my life."

"That memorial is still a place where a lot of teens come, especially the ones that Karen helped," Margaret Oster, Karen's mother said.

But the roadway is slated for eventual expansion, Oster said, at which time the memorial will be removed.

Oster wanted to see legislation prompted by her daughter's death that would give convicted repeat drunk drivers more prison time but said the state doesn't have the funds for longer incarcerations.

The crash that killed Karen and injured her brother did prompt new medians on NM 528, Oster said, "So that's a big awareness."

"I decided to go another route - to preach prevention and education. There aren't many programs that teach prevention and MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an activist group comprising people whose relatives have been killed by drunk drivers) can't do it alone. They need people like me," she said.

State Sen. Joe Carraro got funds from the state to build a permanent memorial, but Oster wanted more than a plaque with a date of birth and death. Rio Rancho Department of Parks and Recreation director Ed Chismar suggested people who knew Karen reminisce about Karen for inspiration for a design for a memorial park.

Karen was a sunny child, Oster remembers. "Celebrating life ... Karen did that every single day. She woke up smiling and went to bed smiling. She was a happy child willing to help everyone with problems."

The Yellow Pages was Karen's favorite book, Oster jokes, the place her daughter looked for phone numbers in an effort to help her friends.

"During her short time she would bring home people, runaways and people with problems, and we opened our doors to all of them. She became to her peers a very special person. She was a promising young life, promising to our community and her life was cut short because someone decided to drink and drive."

Plans for the park unfolded, with landscape architect Greg Miller developing the memories into a theme garden of plants, water and stone.

"Margaret was adamant about the fact that the garden should be a message to people that DUI kills and it's a cold, hard fate. She wanted it to be a remembrance that Karen influenced lives. And third it be a reflection that Karen is still with us as a sort of guardian angel."

The park is shaped like a question mark and once a person enters, there is no exit until the end of the journey is reached, Miller said. The path is lined with butterfly bushes to attract butterflies and stone pillars carved with butterflies, "a symbol of life, death and the afterlife," Margaret said, adding, "After life, people will remember you by the seeds you planted before you leave."

There are 15 stone pillars, one for every year of Karen's life. Fourteen pillars spell out "CELEBRATE LIFE" while the 15th will have her name, picture and birth and death dates. The last stone is in front of a gold threshold will contain the message "DUI KILLS."

"This is an uneasy moment," Miller explains in a narrative describing the garden's purpose. "The rhythm of the garden is broken, the forms incomplete."

Beyond the threshold, a patio and benches allow a visitor to look over the fountain and pool. The visitor can sit and enjoy the peace and love, Oster said.

At the dedication ceremony Saturday, scheduled speakers include Carraro and New Mexico DWI activist Nadine Milford, whose daughter and three granddaughters were killed by a drunk driver on Christmas Eve 1992.

The timing of the dedication is pertinent, Oster said, as the Rio Rancho High School prom will be held Saturday evening.

"I'm going to deliver a very special message to all the kids and remind them not to drink and drive. I'm going to have them all hold hands and think about that they might come to a difficult decision that night about drinking and they should all remember that Karen should be among them," she said.

Judge Kenneth Brown will preside over a mock DWI trial and one of the teens in the crowd will be singled out for prosecution, as a particular warning to teens of the dangers of driving drunk.

"I hope a lot of people will come and bring their children. Hopefully, we can target grade schoolers and middle schoolers. They are starting drugs and alcohol at such an early age right now," Oster reflected.

On a lighter note, the Solar Street Band will play oldies, refreshments will be served and a trip for two to Las Vegas and other prizes will be raffled.

In the meantime, "we are taking it one day at a time," Oster said.

Son Doug, whose leg was severely injured in the crash, is a networking administration student at ITT. Doug prefers not to talk much about the tragedy.

"It makes him sad. He has many things to do with his life. He says 'I am living my life for Karen,'" Oster said.

Oster and her husband Wes are planning a motorcycle trip along the California coastline.

"We used to ride motorcycles. Karen did too. We've spent two years without motorcycles," she said.