Donna Hodnik
I have lots of wonderful memories of Becky, I will always hold her close to my heart and never forget her, I know you know that!
I remember working closely with Becky on the two Infant Welfare Fashion shows and painting two hundred and fifty toy soldiers with her. Also spraying Baskin and Robbins ice cream cartons and making drums for a fashion show. We sprayed the drums in my garage and the dust from the blue spray paint got all over my new car. I was frantic, but we actually dusted it off and all was okay.
Also, I remember her riding her bike with Matt and stopping by the house to tell me she was pregnant (with Jessie). I know you know the story of us exercising. We were on a mission to lose weight and exercised every morning in our basement. We would trade off from working out on the treadmill and bicycle. We would watch the Today show and Becky remarked how old Jimmy Carter was looking. I agreed with her and said he was getting old, but the man being interviewed was not Jimmy Carter. She disagreed with and called me "a little shit" (we are both very stubborn). She called the station in New York to find out who the guest was. It was not Jimmy Carter, but a well-known Doctor. Becky was not happy with me then. A great story for both of us from then on. I remember bowling with you two, and winning the "boob", coming in last place. Also, spending quite a few New Year eves with you both. Sharing your 60th birthday at Morton's and Becky's 60th birthday at the Capital grill.
Nancy Kuske
One of my best memories was when Becky and I took Megan and Jessie to NYC for their 13th birthdays to see The Lion King. The weekend started off with us sitting by Andrea McCardle (the original Annie on Broadway) on our flight to NYC. She was currently playing Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and The Beast. She gave us access to her house seats so on that Sunday, we saw Beauty and the Beast and went backstage afterwards to her dressing room. The girls got to go on stage and meet the Beast!! After dinner we then went to see The Lion King which was amazing.
We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square that night. So at the end of the evening we felt like Moms of the Year! Monday morning I wake up hearing a lot of screaming outside by the ABC studios. Well as luck would have it Justin Timberlake and InSync was at Good Morning America. Believe it or not, Becky and I sent the girls over there by themselves while we got our showers and got dressed. What were we thinking sending these 2 young girls in to the mess without having cellphones back then! We were a bit crazy until we got over there and found them! Needless to say it was an amazing weekend that we will all remember.
Becky is very fondly thought of here at DHJJ. She was everyone's surrogate Mom when you needed someone to talk to or get advice. I don’t remember too many times that I would walk by the front desk without seeing someone chatting with her. Megan even told me that when I started letting her go home after school on her own she would call the front desk instead of my direct line to report in when she knew it was one of Becky's day to work! She enjoyed chatting with her before ever asking for me.
Our "You Go Girls Camp" was another great time with Becky, Pam, Jessie, Grace and Megan. The girls were disappointed that they were too late to get into the Loras Sports Camp like the summer before so we decided to make up our own trip. We went to Lake Geneva and had a great time doing different activities, dinners, etc. Becky, of course, captured all the fun and made adorable memory books for all of us.
I also enjoyed watching some Fighting Illini games with her, especially in 2005!
