With great sorrow...

I note the passing of Rebecca King, wife of my friend Doug King. Becky was a great friend of mine, back before she and Doug moved with the rest of the AOL technical staff down to Florida, then we sort of lost touch. Becky was a guiding light in the Society for Creative Anachronisms here in this area, and went by the name "Meghan Pengwyn" (her 'arms' or heraldry being a giant Emperor Penguin). In my SCA persona as Benedict Scattergoode, I was in her "household" within the society, along with Doug, Marsha Goddell, and a few others-- which was, in turn, part of House Oldcastle.

I got the call from Doug last week. Needless to say, he and Becky were a matching pair, and he is pretty devastated, but is managing to maintain his trademark sense of humor. Somehow.

Becky was never in the greatest of health. She dealt with weight issues, and joint problems, and weird blood chemistry and tendonitis and a host of other ills. In one of life's bitter ironies, things were starting to sort themselves out last year when suddenly, she was hit with a devastating stroke that left her mostly paralyzed.

Becky was all about grace and kindness. She welcomed me into her circle of friends with open arms and I always felt at home hanging out with her and the ladies of the Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society, clodhopper that I was.

To illustrate her sense of humor, which was wicked and geeky:

Becky was a receptionist at NPR. One day one of the hosts walks past her, with CHARLTON HESTON in tow. Becky loved the same movies I did. So she was thinking.. "Damn! It's Charlton Heston! OMEGA MAN Charlton Heston! SOYLENT GREEN Charlton Heston!!! Taylor from PLANET OF THE APESCharlton Heston!!!! Freakin' BEN HUR Charlton Heston!!!!! I can't just let him walk by me without saying ANYTHING???" But she was all star-struck and tongue-tied, so he went by in stately fashion with Becky choking on what to say. As they rounded the corner, she let loose with a shouted:

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEEEEEE-OPLE!!

The host came back later to tell her that Heston actually bent double laughing at that, and laughed all the way to the interview booth.

Drey still tells stories of one of our first dates, which was a game night at Doug and Becky's house, and my reply to her Scattegory question ("What do you fear the most? the letter is O... "Ovulation!")

To steal from Gouthye, If life were measured by accomplishments, most of us would die in infancy. Becky wasn't a Noble Prize winning physicist, she didn't find a cure for AIDS, she didn't solve the Quandry of the Middle East. But she did make me (and many others) feel welcome in her life. I'll miss her terribly.

Good luck unraveling the great mystery, Beck. I love you.