One of the best friends of my family, and one of the most fundamentally decent human beings I have ever known, Ruth Westlake, died last night of a massive heart attack. She died in the ambulance en route to the hospital, while my father and her sister were in a separate vehicle racing to meet her there.
She worked her entire life for Bethany College, was always kind, an animal lover, had a great sense of humor, and was a dear friend to those close to her. In the spring and summer, every night, my father and Russell (our Jack Russell terrier) would go to Ruth’s house, where a group of people would congregate with their dogs and drink coffee and talk until it got too dark to see. When my parents went on vacation, I would fill in, and over the past few years I got to know and respect her.
I, like my family, her family, and her friends- who, in essence, were a second family, am devastated. I think I am going to cry.