I’m getting ready for a funeral this morning. One of my friends I met in my quilt guild, the River Bend Quilters, died last week of a massive heart attack. Becky Bacon was 43. She was a wife and a mother to a sweet seven year old boy. She had a Ph.D. in cell biology from Yale and did a post-doc at UC Berkley in genetics. She was kind, clever, and a very talented quilter. When I joined the guild a few years ago, Becky made me feel so welcome– I will never forget her kindness.
When I heard that she had a heart attack I was in shock. Becky was fit and trim– she loved to ride her bike. I couldn’t understand how she could have had a heart attack so young. Well, the hospital ran tests, and discovered that Becky had a syndrome called Long (or prolonged) Q-T Integral Syndrome, which caused her sudden death due to an irregular heartbeat. It is a congenital defect that the family did not know she had. Her dad died of a heart attack and they think it is from the same syndrome. Fortunately they’ll be able to do tests to see if her son, Henry, has inherited it.
I cannot imagine the grief her husband, Kevin and little Henry are feeling. Events like this bring you face to face with your own mortality. As I attend the funeral mass this morning I will take solace in that fact that I know Becky is with God. I know that there is a life after this earthly one and that we are reunited with those who have gone on before us. So I will picture Becky with her dad and pray that the Lord will comfort her family here.
I am grateful to have known Becky. Her thread has made the quilt of my life that much more beautiful.
