Today’s a big birthday for Becky – much bigger than you’d think to look at her. And she’s even more beautiful inside than out, the kind of person this world needs ten million more of, the kind of sister I wish everyone had.
And that’s not just her big sister talking. Becky’s the heart and soul of her family, of her church and her huge group of friends, and of random interactions with anyone anywhere. Her quiet warmth, interest, and engagement are clearly genuine, and she has the rare gift of always saying or doing exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.
Whether you’ve known her a minute or a lifetime, you can tell she “gets” you. She knows what you mean and understands why it matters. You feel as if she’s your sister too.
Becky is everyone’s all-occasion go-to, whether they’re blue, at a loss, or have wonderful news to share — every day I feel blessed that, as partners, I get so much of her in-demand time.
And by the way, we wouldn’t be partners, we wouldn’t have LitWits, you wouldn’t have LitWits without her. It was her idea, during a much-dreamed of trip to Venice, that we bring books to life for kids like we did as kids. (Here we are in the 2010 moment.)
Frankly, I thought her idea was too good to be true—what, people will pay us to play our way through fabulous books?!
The best part of being wrong (her idea was both good AND true) is spending loads more time with the creative genius behind all the fun stuff we do in our workshops, the magic behind those creative teaching ideas we pass on for you to share with your kids.
In short, without Becky there would be no LitWits—I don’t think there would even be me.
I wish you could all have a friend and teaching partner like I do. Someone who drops everything she’s doing to be present for you, to listen to your every sentence and give you a heartfelt, empathetic, nonjudgmental response.
Someone you can count on, who shows up for everything you do, no matter how booked she is. Someone to be ridiculous with, to run crazy ideas past, to vent to and laugh with, to turn to for “the right thing to do.”
Someone who adores you, who makes you feel you can’t ever do anything wrong (except maybe the good wrong of going AWOL and posting glowing accolades about her without her knowledge – at least I didn’t tell you her age! but you wouldn't have believed me anyway).
We always say the two of us share a brain; some days one of us seems to have absconded with it; other days neither one of us can find it. But there’s never any question who has the heart.
Happy birthday, Becky – I love you so much, and am so grateful for my sister, best friend, and partner.
