R.I.P.

Becky Hill died Sunday evening. She was a friend to our family for more than 30 years. I hate this is the only picture I have of Becky, but I think it actually fits her pretty well. Becky probably weighed damn near 400 pounds and as far as anyone could tell, she was ok with it. Here she is watching Jennifer walk down the aisle probably whispering to herself, "boy she sure is a skinny little thing." Becky was like that in a joking manner. She whipped ass.

Most of ya'll know Mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a little more than ten years ago. At first, there were some dicey weeks where Mom wasn't doing well at all. Becky cooked dinner every Tuesday or Wednesday for a couple of years. After mom was better, she kept cooking dinner for them every week even though everyone was healthy. Her husband Ralph always delivered the meals. After he died, Dad would go by Becky's to pick them up every week. She was the greatest cook, so good she submitted more than 75 recipes for her latest church cookbook. She used eight different names for her recipes so she could remain "discreet." She whipped ass.

After Ralph died in 2004, Becky was certainly sad. She'd never kill herself or anything, but she always made it known she'd be ok if she died sooner than later. Mom used to get upset with Becky for saying that but Becky never lied about anything. She was a nurse for thirty years and was pretty sure Ralph died because a nurse gave him a blood transfusion of the wrong blood type. When questioned about why she never said anything to doctors or hospital administrators, she smiled and told everyone that Ralph would still be dead if she went through all that. She missed him dearly. She whipped ass.

Becky had severe type 1 diabetes and was on insulin, but that never stopped her from sugar. She took her coffee with sugar and would eat dessert anytime she wanted. She'd just take an extra insulin shot beforehand to offset the effects on her body. She whipped ass.

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Becky. It may have been four or five months ago when Jennifer and I picked up something from her house. It may have been our wedding day. I'm not sure. That kind of sucks. She gave us a wonderful wedding gift, that cookbook and an heirloom Chrismas tree that will remain in our home for the rest of our lives. Becky was sarcastic, kind and self-aware. Brutally self aware. My kind of girl. She whipped ass.

Becky has been in and out of the hospital several times in the last few years for heart issues. Three weeks ago she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given nine months to live. She went into the hospital last week with unrelated issues and Saturday developed congestive heart and kidney failure. Becky had been wrestling with whether to fight the cancer or let it run it's course. I'm glad she didn't have to decide. Ralph is, too.