As noted here earlier, Beverly died on May 25. She was my dad's first wife and the mother of my oldest sister and brother (Barbara and Don). She was a lovely person who was always very kind to me.
My earliest memory of her was at Barbara and her husband Dean's wedding, when I was about 3 and Beverly saved my life, as I construed it then. I was standing just behind the bumper of the getaway car - it was a VW bug. It had been left in Reverse for some Arkansas reason that has never been clear to me - when it started up, it reversed into me (at the level of my bladder, which was disastrous!) Beverly snatched me out of the way. I remember thinking that she was GREAT besides being the prettiest grownup lady there besides my mom, which seems entirely fitting.
Beverly and my mom became friends over the years, setting an example for me of what a good "step-wife" relationship can be. When the oil industry tanked out (ha ha, but it wasn't funny) and Nancy and I were both in college, Beverly loaned us money so that we could both stay there. I'm so grateful for that: if I'd left, I'm not sure if I'd have gone back. They were making me take all kinds of darn math and stuff.
I'm not super crazy about viewings of bodies at funerals, but I was so relieved when I saw Beverly on Monday night at the funeral home. She looked perfectly beautiful, and there was no pain, stress or fear, or any of the confusion that the Alzheimer's had brought her in the last years. The Canon's sermon at the funeral was wonderful, and he mentioned a poem (which I can't remember!) and said that he believed Beverly was now dancing in heaven. I love to think of it.
God bless you, my friend.
