Our story is not unlike the other stories. Our daughter Becky was a beautiful, outgoing, and vivacious 20 year old. She attended our local tech college where she would have graduated in June with a marketing degree and planned on going on to get a degree in graphic arts.

She had played volleyball since she was in 5th grade. That was her only sport and she loved every minute of it! Both our girls were very active in club volleyball, which took us all around the country playing volleyball. Volleyball was such a part of her life, that she convinced her dad he should coach a team, and that he did …hers! When she got to college, she decided that she would like to be a coach and was able to do that for one year. Because she had minor knee problems, decided to take off a year to give her knees a much needed break.

She could flash a beautiful smile at any given moment as well as light up a room with her presence. She loved everything about life from her friends and family, to the sport of volleyball, animals but especially her precious dog, Rocky, who she trained and teased relentlessly and he loved her to death. One was never without the other.

On the morning of Feb 24, 2004, Becky got up complaining she didn’t feel well and we suggested that she stay at home, drink plenty of fluids and take ibuprofen. I called her around lunchtime to see if she was okay, she sounded pretty sick but I was sure she had some type of flu. She had been fine the night before and had even gone out to eat with us. When I arrived home from work at 7:00 pm, Becky still did not feel well and said that she had been in bed all day. When she decided to get up for a little while and check her email, she was unsteady and I told to go back to bed and that the email could wait until tomorrow. She went back to bed without any argument.

At 1:00 am, I found her lying in the hallway, moaning, and I asked her what was wrong. She said that she didn’t feel good. When I asked where she was going, she said that she was trying to go to the bathroom. I helped her into the bathroom and then put her back to bed and inquired what she had eaten that day and if she had been drinking fluids. At this time she had no fever and very few complaints. After she had answered all my questions to my satisfaction, I went back to bed and told my husband that I should probably take her to the clinic where I worked to have someone look her over. At 3:00am, I now found her lying on the floor next to my bed, moaning. Again, the same circumstances presented themselves. She said that she had been vomiting and now had a small amount of diarrhea. There were no outwards signs of any vomiting and again no fever! By 5:00 am I found her again in the hallway and started in on a barrage of questions, none of which she could really give me a definitive answer. She complained of being very weak and that she couldn’t see! Was it because it was dark, because her eyes were closed, because she didn’t have her contacts in, because, because, because. I flipped on the hall way light and when I saw that her eyes were rolling around in her head, we knew she was really sick. Sicker than she had lead us to believe.

When we arrived at the ER, we were still convinced that she had some type of flu. The doctor came in and looked at her and said she had an ear infection but her blood pressure was so low. We mentioned to him that her fingertips were blue and she was complaining of her legs falling asleep. Then a flurry of things started to happen and no one was telling us anything. We never left her side and she kept asking us what was happening to her. They told us that she was being transferred to the ICU and would probably stay there for about two weeks. Two weeks for an ear infection? Every time we asked what was going on, all they could tell us was they weren’t sure yet. By the time she did get to the ICU, symptoms started to manifest themselves. No one was calling it meningitis yet. By this time, we were in shock as to what was happening. I have worked in the medical field for 24 years and I could not fathom what was happening to us and especially to her!

The ICU doctor, whom I had known for years, began to unfold what was going on. Some very good friends of ours had arrived and told Becky to call on the name of Jesus and she did! They needed to intubate her immediately. I explained to her what they were going to do and her last words were, “OK, Momma.” The doctor wanted to do it with her awake because, in hind sight, I believe he knew that if he had sedated her she would not be cognizant again. The intubation was too intolerable for her, so he sedated her.

By 8:00 pm, he approached me with tears in his eyes and I said, “She’s going to die, isn’t she?” And he responded with a nod of his head. I asked him what was going to happen next. He informed me that the disease would attack her heart and it would just stop.

By 9:00 pm her heart stopped and she slipped peacefully away with about 30 friends and relatives around her.

We are certain Becky is with Jesus, because His name was one of the last words to come from her lips!

God blessed us with 20 years of memories and not a single one will be forgotten. We will see her again when we are reunited once more in heaven.

We miss you honey!

Be There!