Saying Goodbye to Beverly

I am so sad to tell you that Beverly passed away Thursday the 6th.  She died peacefully in her sleep.  I was blessed to be able to spend the last few days of her life with her, and for most of that time she was coherent and was her usual funny, irreverent self.  She enjoyed hearing the blog comments and emails I read to her.

I gathered a few mementos I found in the house while looking for things that were important to Beverly near the end, including her baton from when she was a majorette (she was also Prom Queen) and a motorcycle vest from the Daytona Beach Harley-Davidson Bikers' club to which she belonged.  A patch on the front reads "I'm perfect just the way I am."

When we met with Beverly's pastor, Scott, in preparation for his composition of her eulogy we laughed and cried and told "Beverly stories" for two hours.  My favorite story, though, was Scott's.  He said that when he told his daughter of Beverly's passing a deeply spiritual women (but, obviously, one who had never met Beverly) was standing nearby and said, "Now she's singing with the angels."  Scott's quick response was, "No, she's probably having a cigarette and telling God what she's cooking for supper."  That is Beverly in a nutshell.

Thank you all so much for your comments, your emails, your thoughts and prayers.  We have all lost someone special, whether we knew her through her blog or "in real life" as we bloggers say.  Every time you cook one of Beverly's recipes think of her and smile.  She'd like that.  Special thanks go to Joyce at October Farm, who I know grieves for Beverly with her whole heart.

For those of you who live near Lexington, Kentucky and would like to attend her memorial service here are the details:

Saturday, December 15th

Old Union Christian Church

6856 Russell Cave Rd.

Lexington, KY 40511

Visitation 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.

Memorial service at 4:00 p.m.

Supper to follow in the church basement

If you need directions or have something special about Beverly you'd like Scott to include in her eulogy he can be reached at OldUnion@earthlink.net.  And if you do come it's likely you'll get to meet David Biddle, who grew nearly all the vegetables Beverly cooked with.  Rumor has it David may even sing.  You'll probably also meet Betty Rose and Louise Charles.  And you will certainly eat a delicious meal, because the ladies of Old Union will be pulling out all the stops and making their best dishes for Beverly, as is only right and proper.  The food for her funeral was one of the few details Beverly was willing to discuss - a food blogger to the end!

A memorial fund has been established in Beverly's honor through Traditional Bank in Paris.  In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the fund with checks being made payable to Larry Swetnam with "Beverly's Memorial Fund" on the subject line or on a note enclosed with the donation.  Their address is 3333 Lexington Rd., Paris, KY 40362. Please mark the envelope "ATTN: Cecilia".  And thank you, Cecilia, for helping us set this up for Beverly when we were too overwhelmed to think clearly.  ~Angie