Deretha Ann Darrow I admit it. I am partial to this one. I first saw DeeCee when we were fourteen years old, shortly after she came to Lebanon. To say I was smitten would be an understatement. It took a few years but we finally became a couple. Many personal antidotes could be written about her, but those memories are private and I don’t want to embarrass her, well not too much anyway. She is not the type to sing her own praises so that leaves it up to me. Her gifts were many; she was wicked smart, a curator’s scholar and earned a master’s degree. She was creative and talented as a singer and actress. She possessed a sparkling sense of humor and her razor wit matched even Abbey. She was voted most athletic girl and turned down a scholarship to play basketball so she could study science at Mizzou. She was an agent for change and committed her career to conservation, one of the most important issues of our time. She went all the way to the top in her profession, and I think the first woman to hold that position. She…oh good grief, will this list never end? There must be something she is not good at, but I don’t know what it is. For crying out loud, she was even girl’s ping pong champ. Give me a break. But there was one trait that floated above them all. She was nice. Here was a pretty girl who knew your name, who would smile at you and listen to your teenage boy babble. Her affable manner and easy laugh could turn any geeky, gawky, pencil necked wannabe into a prince. I know because I was one of the many, many she touched. And we loved her for it. She was a little caress of the heart and a pat on the butt to send us down the road of life with enough confidence to know, that out there somewhere, was a woman who would have us. It was a gentle gift, delivered so subtly that we didn’t even know we had been schooled. She was pretty slick. All of her life successes are not surprising. There was never any doubt that DeeCee was going to deliver. She has moved into retirement and it appears she and Dan are indulging their lifelong passion for hunting, fishing, and the outdoor life and are doing some traveling as well. Ask about the other irons in their fire. Whatever the future, she will do it well. It was a distinct privilege to spend those halcyon days in the company of my remarkable friend. Will was right; she really is more lovely than a summer day. Her summer is eternal and when birds sing into blue skies and sweet fragrances drift on the breeze, all us geeks think of DeeCee.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 18:05:36 +0000
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