Brother honors Comiskey with paper cranes

Daniel Comiskey walked down Kirkwood Avenue in complete solitude early Saturday morning. He was going to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater to see if the 1,000 paper cranes he had hung from the marquee as a display during the Lotus Festival in remembrance of his sister, Kate, had survived the wind and rain of the previous night. \nHe feared they had not. \nWhen he reached the building, he saw them still hanging from the marquee and fluttering in the breeze. For Daniel, the sight was very emotional.\n"It was a tear-jerking moment," he said. "I thought it would be a disaster."\nIt took him six months to fold by hand each of the paper cranes that was a part of the display he created in honor of his sister, who died in a November 2004 car crash.\nKate Comiskey was driving northbound on North Walnut Street when the car driven by Bryan "Mitch" Gooldy struck her head-on. She was transported to Bloomington Hospital and pronounced dead from injuries resulting from the collision. She was 24. \nBefore the crash, a motorist had reported a vehicle, which police later determined to be Gooldy's car, driving erratically on Indiana Highway 37. \nAccording to police reports, a blood sample taken from Gooldy after the accident tested positive for cocaine, opiates and depressants.\nDaniel said he and his sister went to the Lotus Festival last year, and she loved it.\n"I wanted her to have a presence at this year's festival," she said.\nDaniel said his sister, who was a teacher at Indian Creek High School in Trafalgar, Ind., had planned to take her students to the festival this year.\nThe Japanese tradition of hanging 1,000 cranes in honor of someone who has died started after the bombing of Hiroshima during World War II. Daniel chose to honor Kate in this way because she had visited her boyfriend in Japan before she died and she was teaching her class how to make the cranes. \nNancy Comiskey, Kate's mother and a journalism professor at IU, thought it was a fitting tribute not only because Kate was "fascinated" by Japanese culture and art, but also because the crane is a symbol of peace.\n"It was really moving for me to see the cranes floating in the breeze," she said. "I know she would've loved it. It was an amazing tribute from a brother to a sister he adored."\nThe Comiskeys were glad the cranes were placed at the theater, which was one of the busiest locations during the festival. They were also happy that people stopped to enjoy the display. Daniel said that people stopped to tell him how great the cranes looked even as he carried the cranes to the theater with some of Kate's friends.\n"I relish the opportunity to talk about my sister," Daniel said. "I was hoping not only that they would be beautiful, but that they would be recognized for what they symbolize."\nThe display also helped Kate's family and friends remember their loved one. The cranes were "graceful and beautiful," just like Kate, according to her brother. \nNancy made her very first visit to the Lotus Festival to see the display, which helped her feel closer to her daughter.\n"It just felt like her spirit was there even though she couldn't be there in person," she said. "It was so comforting to us"