A Tribute to Rebecca L Greeley

 It will be 7 years in September since you left my world.  I still think of you everyday and still miss you so much.  So much has happened since you passed away.  Your children are growing up so fast! You would be so proud of them :)  Your oldest is in college and he works with me at the store. Keeping your legacy going and giving me a piece of you everyday.  I now have 5 grandchildren who would have loved their Great Aunt Becky so much.  I wish you could be here to see them. I know that my boys would have loved having you in their lives.  Your "little buddy" has made it to 7th grade! It's been a rough road for him and there were times when we sure could have used one of Aunt Becky's pep talks. Even though he was so young when you died, he still remembers you and misses you.  I have dreamed of you a few times. Oh how I wish those dreams could come true! I didn't want to wake up from them. You had come back to us and we were having so much fun talking and catching up.  It was so good to hear your voice and your laugh again, but at the same time, it made me miss you so much all over again. I tried to carry that with me for many days after. I think you came to me in my dreams that time because you knew I was needing to talk to my best friend again.   Thank you for watching over us and for always being there when we need you.  I love and miss you still!

Today marks the three anniversary of  a woman to me was a saint. I miss Becky so much. She taught me how to love  life and love others. The 13 years that I knew her were filled with so much laughter, smiles and tears.They were the very best years of my life. I will treasure each moment that I had with her. If there was ever a day I came in to see her at the campus bookstore and I was down, she would pick me up. I was born disabled but she always treated me with the upmost respect, generosity and love.  One of the memories I will ALWAYS cherish is when I did not graduate in the spring of 2001 I told her about it. She NEVER once got mad at me, you see I held my reception in April of 2001 and by May I found out I did not graduate.I had failed my class. Becky did something I will cherish for the rest of my life. She knew how devastated I was.A few days later she surprised me with a letter. She told me not feel ashamed  that I did not get my degree. I shouldnot hold my head down. I should keep holding my head up. I should not let that particular professor get to me. That God knows what he is doing. He decided this should happen because I was being sent back to capus to possibly help someone else out that may need my help. You know that helped me. She supported me even though I felt like I let her and Terrilynn and a ton of other people down. She even wanted me to come back and literally put my diploma on that jackass professor forehead. Another memory I have is the story my mom told me. Mom had gone into the bookstore to try and find me. Mom always knew that if I was not down stairs in the food court waiting for her I would be with Becky and Terrilynn at the bokstore. Well one particular afternoon she was looking for me and she asked Becky, have you seen "TOAD"???? Mom told me that Becky told her what did you say, Mom had to repeat the question and then say"SANDY" I guess both her and Terrilynn told Mom not in quite a while.I guess that Becky had this horrible look on her face all the while Terrilynn was laughing hysterically. Becky asked Mom, "why do you call her that name for???"Mom told her it was my nickname since childhood.Mom had to go into detail about me being scared as a kid of sand toads and how Gramps Wes "ALWAYS" threw the toads across that field next to my sand box. Of course Becky being Becky when she found out my nickname all the time I go in the bookstore to see her and Terrilynn she would smile this certain smile and say"HI TOAD!!!" Then when she would mail me cards or letters it would have on it Sandy "T" Rhoades on the front. I miss that from her. You know what I miss the most our talks and her laugh. I am starting to forget her laugh. Sometimes I feel like I can't share my grief with Mom so I talk to Terrilynn this helps me soooo much and I never have told Terrilynn that.  I am so thankful that I got the chanc to know this wonderful woman. Becky brought sooo much joy and happiness into my life. When she left a huge hole was left in my heart and my life, that will "NEVER" be the same. This world at least mine for a little while was wonderful because Becky was a part of it and somehow someway she will always be a part of my life. I got through most of today without crying. I just  smiled. I like to think that she is in heaven taking care of my beloved Grandfather Wes and my other Best Friend Sharon, my uncle Dub, my sister Tracy. I miss her so much that there are not enough words to descibe it. Her voice, our talks most of all. "I  REALLY MISS THE LETTERS!!!!!:   Sandy :)

Today marks the 3rd year since my sister-in-law Becky has passed.  Although, the raw pain has faded, my heart still hurts when I think of her and all the things we haven't been able to share.  I still think of Becky everyday and I miss her terribly, still.   I know that she is nearby, because, at times, I can feel her presence in my life and that is a very comforting thing for me, even though it does bring back all the pain I felt when she died and makes me wish even harder that she were here in person.  Some days are still hard for me.  There are still times that I feel the need to talk to her or just hear her voice so badly, that it is a physical pain to me.  Whenever I feel this way, I pull out the last video we shot of her and watch the precious few minutes that she is in it.  It doesn't take away the pain, but I can almost get a sense of peace just seeing her moving and hearing her voice again.   I miss you Becky, and I love you.  

Today, Sept. 18, 2007 marks the 2nd anniversary of Becky's passing and I still miss her as much as I did the year before.  Some days are better than others. I still have moments when I miss her so much I can actually feel the ache in my heart so much it causes me physical pain.  It's at times like those that I feel like I did in the days right after her death.   It doesn't seem possible that 2 years have gone by since I last saw and talked to her.  I miss her so much.  I sometimes call her house and hope that the answering machine will pick up just so I can hear her voice again.  Her husband has not changed the tape yet, and to be truthful, I hope he never does.  It seems that when I am needing to hear her voice the most, I need to call him and he won't be home and the machine will pick up.  I love hearing her voice and it actually calms me and makes me feel that she is nearby.

I miss you more than ever Becky and there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of you and wish you were here.

I love you.

One of the best memories I have of Becky, is when we both got pregnant at the same time.  She didn't say anything to anybody until she was considerably far along.  When she finally told me, I had to keep it a secret for a little while longer, I think it was at least a month.    On my birthday, we decided she would tell the family at the party.  She went into the bathroom and put on a maternity top the same as mine.  When she came out, we stood side by side with our arms around each others shoulders and waited to see if anyone would notice.  It took them forever! They all kept looking at us wondering what we were up to.   Finally her sister figured it out.  Chaos reigned after that!  We probably stood there like that for a good 5 to 10 minutes before anyone picked up on anything.  It was great!  We had such a good laugh and it was really great to be pregnant with her.  The next person we had to tell was our boss.  He knew about me, but she didn't want to tell him that we were both going to be gone at the same time.  Thankfully, he took it in good stride.  Our babies were born 21 days apart.  She had a girl, and I had a boy.  That was the best birthday ever and I will always remember it.  Out of all our good times together, this is my best memory.