Becky Sue Hits the Big Time

     FIRST, A NOTE: I love the craft of writing, and I love it when other writers do well, especially when I have a personal connection to them. That's the case with Rebekah Faulk. Rebekah and I worked together for about four years. She departed for a job closer to her beloved Georgia coast. It, evidently, was just the medicine to inspire her. Since leaving just nine months or so ago, she has started blogging about her favorite subject in all the world–food, and finding some real success. Her blog is entertaining, and her videos, well, you just have to see them. It's even better when you know Rebekah, who I dubbed Becky Sue not long after she joined our team. Since many of you won't get the chance to meet her personally, I thought I'd share with you a glimpse of Rebekah. I wrote it for her a day or so before she left. After reading about Becky Sue, I hope you'll go over to her blog and subscribe to it. I've got a feeling we may see her on TV one day.

     Some stories are best told in pictures; others in words. It is the rare story indeed that is best suited for sound.

     This is one of those rare stories.

     It is only fitting that Becky Sue’s story would be rare. For she, too, is one of a kind. She entered our lives, confidence in motion, dressed to the nines with her trademark fashion-forward shoes and that massive tangle of tight curls spilling past her shoulders and down her back. There’s no doubt about it, Becky Sue had style, and it was uniquely Southern–something we all found out at that first welcome lunch.

     That first meal started with sweet iced tea (of course). We took turns asking questions, and it was apparent from the beginning that Becky Sue enjoys food. She talked about Taste of Home like it was the Bible. She was an early 20s kitchen maven, a Food Network recipe of Martha Stewart and Paula Deen with a little of the Neeleys stirred in to add the soul.

     It was the soul that produced that first memorable sound as a basket of hot-buttery rolls made their way around the Santa Fe table. When Becky Sue cut into hers you’d a thought she was coming off a 40-day fast.

     It was not a grunt. It was a growl, a from-the-deep expression of unqualified appreciation and joy that, like her shoes and her hair, became her calling card. That sound is the physical embodiment of the Good Book’s references to a love “from the bowels.”

     From that day forward, Becky Sue was known for her ability to express herself wordlessly. The sight of a  Harvest Moon cupcake would cause her to erupt in an expression of pleasure that verged on the erotic. Even a well-timed muffin or frozen dinner, always artfully staged for a camera close-up, would bring forth a characteristic deep rumble of satisfaction.

     But it was not just food that caused these spontaneous utterances. The sight of a dog, cat or baby resulted in an equally sudden, albeit unique, response. The general consensus is that Becky Sue was actually saying something, but the sounds never seemed to result in a discernible sentence.

     “Cho wook cee wat dat iddle fang chay,” she would coo. “Hitso bitty, chum bitey needs ta pinch hits bottom. Esay do.”

     It was inevitable that anyone within earshot of this unknown tongue would erupt in laughter, and that would bring on the effective end to conversation as Becky Sue would release another of her one-of-a-kind sounds. Beginning in her throat, a husky howl builds, then is lost in an absence of oxygen. A quick breath provides just enough air for the guttural sound to again become audible, but only momentarily. This can last for upwards of five minutes, and it is entirely entertaining to watch: face red, eyes wide, then squinty, then wide again, tears escaping in the sheer joy of the moment.

     Best of all is when this all happens at once. Put Becky Sue at a banquet of food, together with a baby and a funny story and you get it all–a raucous symphony of growls, incomprehensible baby talk, howls and empty breaths all emanating from a mane of curls dressed to the nines.

     Read and subscribe to Becky Sue's Blog, Somekindagood.org. It'll entertain you, and it would be a favor to me. Hey, while you're at it, follow me too. It might encourage me to write a little more often.