Rebekah was born in Pasadena Texas in 1954. She grew up there with her parents Joe and Ruby Laird and her sisters Debbie and Melody. She was taken off of life support on December 15th, 2022, and passed to see our lord at 12:34 pm surrounded by her loving family. I met Rebekah thru a mutual friend, Brenda, whom I worked with and who was Rebekah’s best friend since the age of 3. She asked me if I wanted to come down and stay the night at her friend’s house in Kemah. I’ll never forget the night I met Rebekah. It was Cinco de Mayo 27 years ago. She was standing in the kitchen, so beautiful. Long light brown wavy hair, amazing eyes, great smile, beautiful face, dressed in a red blouse, short black leather skirt, stockings, and high heels. I was stunned and speechless (and for those of you who know me, that doesn’t happen often). She told me later she thought I was arrogant because I did not talk to her for a while. I told her she was so beautiful that I didn’t want to say anything stupid. We all met other friends that night for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went to the Cross-eyed Seagull, now called the Cockeyed Seagull. We got to know each other and danced. After one of the dances, she looked at me and kissed me on the dance floor. When we got back to her house everyone started getting ready to go to bed. I was assigned to the couch in the living room. She told me she was going to change and go to bed. Ten minutes later she came out to the living room, and we started talking. We stayed up all night getting to know each other and even went outside to lay in a hammock to watch the sunrise. As we sat down in the hammock it broke. We laughed and found some chairs to sit on as we watched the sun come up. Later that morning we took her wave runner out on Clear Lake and played most of the day. She dropped me off later that day at South Shore Harbor Resort for the company party and then she proceeded to go see a choir concert, Cliff, her son was in. The next morning, she picked me up and drove me back to Kingwood. Since that weekend we spoke to or saw each other every day. We met each other at the perfect time. We had so much in common. She loved the water, fishing, boating, and the outdoors. We also went through difficult marriages in the past. One night I will never forget is while we were dating, we decided to go dancing. We wound up at the Nasa Hilton. Ok, get your minds out of the gutter. The bar and dance floor were empty except for the bartender. REM’s song “Losing My Religion” started playing and we danced to it. Not once, but five times because we made the bartender play it repeatedly. I sang the lyrics into her ear as we danced, which she really liked, and it became our song. The song is not about religion but bad relationships which we both related to. As I became to learn more about Bec, I discovered her love for dolphins and her collection of them. She always said they are cute, and she loved watching them in the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean. I, on the other hand, loved wolves because they are cool looking. Plus, and most importantly, they mate for life. Rebekah was my mate for the rest of my life, and I was hers. Later that year, I had an engagement ring made and took her to the Cockeyed Seagull, the place where we shared our first kiss, and I proposed. She said yes and we married at sunset on a cigarette boat on Clear Lake on June 1st, 1996. Afterward, I moved into the Hanson House with her in Kemah. She became a stepmom to Danielle who was 6 years old, and JR who was 2. I became a stepdad to Cliff who was 18. Cliff graduated from High school and met the love of his life Amy. They got married and he joined the Navy and had two daughters Jordyn and Erin. Our first grandchildren. She loved going to see them all wherever they were stationed at. She always cherished the moments with all of them but especially with Jordyn and Erin. When they moved here to Texas, Rebekah and I took the granddaughters to see Wicked at The Wortham Theater. It was one of the best days we ever had with them. When Rebekah had to pick Erin up from school, they developed a special bond. She would take Erin out for ice cream, a smoothie, or some other type of snack afterward. Eventually, these became lunch dates. Danielle and JR grew up and eventually graduated from Texas A & M. Both are married to wonderful people. We have a grandson Noah and another one on the way with Danielle and Brian. JR and his wife Danielle gave us a beautiful granddaughter Emma just last year. Rebekah loved her grandchildren and was constantly buying them things. She was the guru of shopping and would buy presents for everyone and store them for all occasions to come. I hated shopping. If there was a bar nearby, I would tell her to meet me there. Rebekah loved going to her mom and dad’s lake house at Lake Travis. When I first met her parents, Ruby and Joe it was awkward because her whole family are huggers. My family wasn’t. I learned to like it. There were many family gatherings there with her sisters Debbie and Melody and their families. We all would spend time out on the lake boating, skiing, swimming, and picnicking. At night we all spent time playing games. She loved to play games. She loved her family so much and would defend them till the end of time. When her dad, Joe, passed away it hurt her so badly because he was such a great man, not only to her but to many people and he would do anything for his girls. She met my parents Lou and Sal, my sister Jeanine and her family, and my grandmother. She immediately hugged them. My family learned to hug each other from then on. When we had to take my mom off life support, she stepped up and helped my dad and the family get better organized. She was amazing at it. One time we had my dad staying with us at the Hanson house and we decided to go to Galveston for the day. She wanted to shop for a new bikini. I watched as my dad would go from rack to rack picking out suits for her to try on. She wound up buying a bright yellow bikini he had picked out for her, and everyone was happy. When my dad passed, she had everything in order and made everyone’s lives easier. She was our rock and helped us all get thru it all. Now all of you know, Rebekah liked to eat. At the beginning when we would go out to eat and I could order whatever I wanted to. After a while, she would ask what I was going to get. If it was something she was thinking about getting I was asked to order something else that she liked too so we could share it. Then I decided when she would ask me what I was going to get I would tell her I don’t know, what are you getting? Eventually, I just gave up ordering and she would decide for us. I always liked what she picked. She loved food so much that she was always the last one to finish. If anyone had any untouched leftovers, she would ask them if she could have them to take home for another meal. Her favorite foods were: Mexican with margis, Pizza night with wine, steak and lobster, chocolate, which she was allergic to, and also beans. Any kind of beans. I never knew anyone who loved beans as much as she did. But ultimately, she loved deserts the most. For a small woman, she could eat which made me jealous. She would make me sandwiches to take to work for lunch. Not just any sandwich but the perfect one for that day. I loved them all and told her she should open a sandwich shop, but the customers would get mad because you can’t take 15 to 20 minutes to make a perfect sandwich. Maybe they would have waited? I don’t know. But now I have to get used to PB&J. When I met Rebekah, she was working for Daniel Dror at American International Industries. She started working for him in 1983 and retired in 2016. She was with them for 33 years and held the position of Secretary and Treasurer. With him, you had to be willing to change directions at a moment’s notice and receive calls at all hours. He could be difficult to work with, but she would always find a way. Back in 1998 or 1999, we decided to start finding a church to go to. We received a flyer in the mail and tried Clear Creek Community Church. It took us a couple of times trying it before we decided it was where we wanted to be and have been there ever since. We even served at the church for several years on the safety team and we joined a couple of small groups. We both joined the Kemah Volunteer Fire Department in 2000 after the Mayor of Kemah asked us to check it out. Little did we know how much it would change our lives. She became a support member and would bring water, food, and other supplies to major scenes. She worried about the danger of me becoming a firefighter but saw how we trained and was at most of the major scenes which helped her become more comfortable with all of it. As a support member, she would arrange our annual awards banquets, take pictures of us at scenes and other events, help pick out the awards, organize family dinners at the station, buy candy for Halloween events, and made sure we had toys and candy for Santa Around Town. She would even make sure the Santa Suit was clean and ready for him so he would look good when he waved and greeted people when we drove him around town on top of our ladder truck. One year she was getting frustrated because Santa wasn’t getting ready fast enough, so she went into his office, closed the door, and started helping him get dressed. Santa got flustered and blushed because she started sticking her hands down Santa’s pants to get his outfit straight. After that she did not have to ever help him again. At first, our fire department only answered about 60 to 70 calls a year. Then the department decided to provide medical aid to help the community and CLEMC. They asked all of us to become ECAs or EMTs. She became an ECA with me. It was the hardest test she ever took and passed it the first time. Our calls increased dramatically. Within the first year, after we became medical first responders, the department responded to over 700 calls. On one emergency medical call, the patient wasn’t being very cooperative so she threatened to have him arrested and taken to jail or he could get on the stretcher and go to the hospital. It was a battle he was going to lose with her either way but made the right choice and got on the stretcher. Another time we were in my squad truck and were toned to a car accident on FM 2094 while running errands. I started providing patient care and I asked her to help me. She bent over by her waist while wearing a short blue sundress on a windy day and I heard vehicle brakes locking up on the roadway. I think you can all imagine why. Thank God no accident happened but she did cause a traffic jam. From then on, she would carry department t-shirts and pants in a to-go bag. She served our fire department and community for many years. We may have saved some lives as first responders but on those long hot fire scenes, she saved ours with water, cold towels, and food. In January 2008 my dad passed away and I lost my job due to a corporate takeover. Rebekah and I talked about my future I wanted to be more involved in the fire service. So, she supported me while I took courses to become a deputy fire marshal. In September of that year, Hurricane Ike hit. I was going to the police academy at that time and stayed and responded with the fire department while I sent her to Austin. Ike put two feet of water in our house. It was devastating. Our family, friends, members of the fire department, and our church helped with the clean-up of our house. We decided not to fix the house and bought a fifth-wheel trailer and put it on the property to live in. Obviously, we downsized. It took a while for us to get used to it, but we did. In 2009 we found the perfect lot and house plan to build our first dream home together. We moved in December 31st 2009. If you want to know how strong a relationship is, build a new home together, it is a great test of its strength and compromises. We had a pool put in that spring and made the perfect backyard paradise. We loved our new house, pool, swimming, and entertaining family and friends. We also enjoyed going in our spa to relax almost every night. In 2013 Rebekah pulled into her office parking lot and opened her car door and a little four-legged fur ball jumped over her and sat down in the passenger seat. It was the exact day we had put our beloved Port Dog to sleep several years prior. We talked and decided to adopt her. We named her Smokey Bear. Later that year we adopted Colt. She loved her fur babies and spoiled them with toys, stuffed animals, and treats. In that same year, my sister Jeanine was talking about buying a Ford Raptor. I looked at it online and thought wow, what a cool truck. At the time we had a crew cab, long bed, F-350. A pain in the butt to park but she could back that truck up into a space without a backup camera. I found a Raptor at the local dealership. It was red. One of her favorite colors. I drove it first and then she took it for a spin. After about 10 minutes she looked at me and said we are buying this truck. It became her truck, and she appropriately named it Redford. She maintained it and would get it washed. She loved all the attention she would get from people asking her if it was her truck and she proudly responded yes to all of them. Bec was opinionated and honest she had no problem telling people what she thought, and it sometimes offended some people. She even offered advice. Some people would take it and others wouldn’t. The amazing thing is that she had a lifetime of experiences which made her successful in her career and in love. All anyone has to do is look at where she started, where she was currently, and where she was going. Most of our conflicts we had were because we were both bosses. We finally agreed that there can only be one boss and that was me. NOPE! What we agreed to was she would be in charge of the inside of the house projects, and I would be on the outside. It worked for the small stuff but on all major issues we would always discuss it and we would both decide what to do. Did we always agree, no, but one of us would always compromise. An example of this is when she would want something I disagreed with like buying another cross to hang in our house or jewelry. I would say we don’t need it. She learned to say the following: ladies listen, “it makes me happy”. She won! Near the end of COVID Bec and I started looking around the hill country for some land so we could build a house for us to live in when I retired. After several months of looking, driving thousands of miles, and with help of one of our friends we found the perfect property on a hill with spectacular views. We bought the land last year and then hired a builder. Our retirement dream home is being built right now. Bec helped design it and had picked out most of the things that are going in it. It was going to be the perfect retirement home. We named the new home Silver Wolf Ridge. She was always a perfectionist. Everything had to be perfect for her and when it wasn’t it would bother her. She was a perfectionist in an imperfect world. She had standards that she wanted to meet for herself and others. Over the past few years, she learned to relax and not worry as much if things weren’t perfect. She was also funny and would get so mad at me for not laughing at any of her jokes. But I would say to her I'm laughing on the inside. That didn’t help. Bec would always tell me to enjoy the journey, but she wasn’t doing the driving through Houston or other congested places. She would even call her mom or sisters while we were on our way to see them at the lake and talk for an hour thru the truck's speakers which meant I couldn’t listen to music. I would always tell her that I just wanted to get there as fast as possible so I could relax. Once, while we were driving in the country to our new property, Silver Wolf Ridge, I told her that I now enjoy the journey and the destination. For the past few years, she had several health issues and had lost 15 lbs. After many tests, her endocrinologist said she was 99% sure that she had a pituitary gland tumor which are not cancerous. We scheduled a head CT and they found one. It was the size of a golf ball. They prescribed medications to help her until it would be removed, and she gained weight and was feeling a lot better. She picked out a neurologist who specializes in this type of surgery and has 22 years of experience. We spoke to him and postponed the surgery to let her try some medication to try to shrink it and it did not work. Due to scheduling issues, we finally were able to get it scheduled for 12/12/22. Bec loved so many things in life but here are a few of them. She loved: • GOD • Family • Crosses • Giving to Christian organizations • Being a caregiver and driving me crazy when I was sick • Beaches, crystal blue waters, all-inclusive Caribbean resorts, and sunsets • Mountains • Rainbows which were her favorite color because she loved all the colors. She also really liked red and looked amazing when dressed in it. • Shopping and saving money • Games and playing them with the kids • Dancing • Traveling. She had been to almost every state • Going out to dinner Musicals and Plays… We had seen Miss Saigon Broadway and saw a show at the Sight in Sound Theater in Lancaster Pennsylvania and many more •Wearing dresses… she loved to dress up and was always the most beautiful woman in the room • Shoes • Mexican food and margis • Pizza • She loved wine and I taught her how to love beer • Movies, especially romcoms, and popcorn • Chocolate, especially chocolate martinis in the spa • Collecting Rocks/Boulders and driftwood. Some of them she had me bring back from the new property to here and told me I will have to take them all back when we move • Having extras of just about everything, like having to have 5 pairs of scissors scattered around the house. Who needs that many? But I have to admit it has come in handy. • Cutting my hair. She cut my hair for 27 years. • Portable heaters, she put them everywhere. She was always cold. Want to drive a deputy fire marshal crazy? Place heaters everywhere and create a fire hazard. • Music • Making other people happy • Elvis Presley, she even saw him in concert here in Texas in 1976. She (we) loved to snuggle, and we would fall asleep every night with me having to keep her warm, holding her tight and I would tell her how amazing it was to feel her next to me. We’d kiss and say I love you before going to sleep. Even being half my size she would take up 3/4 of the bed. I think I loved feeling her next to me more than she did. I loved her hair on my face, her soft skin, and the way she smelled. We both loved to stay in those moments. Whenever she was out of town, I would always have to have her pillow right next to me so I could sleep. Now it will be next to me for the rest of my life Bec and I fought, we prayed, we loved, and we accepted each other with all our faults. Our lives weren't always easy but was always better together. Before she went into surgery, she said 12-12-22 are lucky numbers. She loved numbers and would text me the time is 1234, 222, 333, or 444. They are angel numbers and I have been seeing some of them every day since she passed. We would pray before all her surgeries. I would then tell her I love you, kiss her and say I’ll see you when you wake up. This time I said I’ll see you on the other side and she said it back to me. Why I said that I don’t know. Now I will have to wait to see her on the other side...by God's grace. I continue to think back to several months before her surgery the saying God laughs when we make plans would pop into my head. I thought this was due to how long it is taking our new house to get built and all the shortages. It’s not funny God! Even though I have taken an oath to serve, protect and save people, there was nothing I could do to protect and save her from this fate. Now all of our plans and dreams after I retire will have to be fulfilled by me. God did not answer any of my prayers except for one which was that she would pass quickly when she was pulled off the ventilator. I am mad at you God for taking her from me. It does not mean I don’t believe in you. I guess it just means you have other plans for me. I want to thank my whole family for all their help and support. They have been truly amazing in giving their time to help me and I love you all so much and am very proud to call you family. I still can’t believe she is gone and still think that she will just walk through the door at any time. Bec was my soul mate, my best friend, and confidant, my lover. I will honor her memory for the rest of my life. Babe, I will always miss and love you until the day I die. Until will meet again on the other side. I leave you with her five favorite words: faith, love, hope, grace, and forgiveness. Wise words to live by. Love always and forever, S