Rebecca Wilson Armstrong

REBECCA WILSON ARMSTRONG: MOTHER OF SONG AND SUNSHINE I am writing this on what is likely my last day, on Earth, to be shared with the woman who brought meaning to my life, Rebecca Wilson Armstrong. Fittingly, to write this I am leaning on a book titled “We Remember: Women Tell the Stories of Their Lives in Words and Pictures.” We have prepared these words and selected various pictures of Rebecca and our family to help celebrate Rebecca’s life at a gathering at First Presbyterian Church, 110 North Adams Street at 3 PM on Wednesday, August 3. If you know Rebecca, you know that beyond her beautiful blue eyes and radiant smile, which you can see, Rebecca’s most precious gifts to each of us were her uncompromising love, her passion and compassion, her love of family and friends. We have written some words to summarize Rebecca’s life, and ask you to feel free to share your thoughts and memories of Rebecca with us in your own precious words. As many do and have done, Rebecca fought a valiant fight against her cancer. Rebecca was one of the first people to take an experimental drug which only recently became the first drug ever approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer. The courage it takes to enter a drug trial never should be underestimated. Rebecca, like others who offer themselves for these trials, ventured into the unknown, not knowing what side effects were in store or how devastating they might have been. The courage she demonstrated this way was typical of Rebecca. Born in the mountains of Virginia, she moved with her family to Florida, began working at Disney World as soon as she was old enough to work and moved, by herself, to New York City at the age of 20. Rebecca knew only one person in New York at the time. She pursued an acting career and landed some “gigs” in soap operas, commercials and off-Broadway plays, each of which capitalized on her beauty. But I had the privilege of being the sole witness to the times when Rebecca was at her most beautiful-- as she gave birth to our son, Jake in 1987, and our daughter, Jesse in 1992. Jake is our Song; Jesse is our Sunshine. Since their births, our lives have forever improved. We have shared much love and many good times with our family and friends – and we are forever grateful to God and to each of you reading this for every smile, laugh and the plain old “good feelings” that you brought to Rebecca’s life. Thank you for celebrating Rebecca’s life with us and sending her your love. In return, we hope that you will capture even just a little bit of her spirit to take away with you. We are hopeful that by keeping a part of Rebecca with you, by remembering her gorgeous smile, her sparkling blue eyes, her hearty laugh, you will feel the peace and joy which each of us deserve. With love, Brian, Jake, and Jesse P.S. By specific agreement with his Mom, today Jake is in final dress rehearsal for his role as “Nathanaël” in “The Tales of Hoffman” by the Wolf Trap Opera Company. “Hoffman” opens Friday night at the Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center in Virginia. As Rebecca put it to me, “I will be unhappy if a piece of my spirit is not with Jake on stage at Wolf Trap because he is sitting here in Tallahassee.” In his absence, we hope that you will enjoy Jake’s rendition of a song, “Mamma son tanto felice,” affectionately known simply as “Mamma.” Jake included this song for his Mom at his April, 2010 recital at the FSU School of Music soon after we were informed, for the first of what would be three times, that we were not to expect to have our Rebecca with us much longer. A vocal performance scholarship will be presented to a deserving FSU vocal performance student, a seat at the Tallahassee Little Theater will be “purchased” and a special contribution made toward the 2011/12 season of Theatre A La Carte, and an additional investment in the Chiles HS WOLFPAC’s annual Armstrong Scholarship, each in memory of Rebecca and her love of the arts. Kindly help us to keep Rebecca’s memory alive by supporting our local arts programs.

Tributes

Rebecca Wilson Armstrong

November 18, 1952 - August 1, 2011