Betty

Today I thought a great deal about Betty Dade.

Betty lived across the street from me when I was a young girl. Her son Larry and daughter Lisa were always getting into trouble. They used drugs, and hung out with some very bad people. Betty was a quiet woman that cared deeply about her family. She was your typical grandmother. She loved to bake, and would take great care of her grandchildren. Her favorite hobby was making dolls, and when you went inside her house, there were doll parts strewn across every table and counter top. Her home was always untidy, and being that my sister and I wanted to earn some extra cash, we offered to clean her house for a minimal fee. It was during these cleaning times that I came to know her best. Her room was chock-full of Betty Boop items that she had collected over her lifetime. There were Betty Boop clocks, dolls, pens, mugs mirrors, etc. I looked at the items in awe, wishing that I could take them home. She also had a large bookcase that covered an entire wall of her living room. Sometimes she would grunt, as she climbed up to grab a book from one of the top shelves. My sister and I found her grunting highly amusing and to this day giggle when we remember those times.

I also remember my family and I running outside because we heard people screaming across the street. When we came out, we saw Betty's daughter Lisa, and her then boyfriend running out of the garage naked. They had been cooking meth and started a fire. They ended up having to live in an RV outside of the house until the garage could be repaired.

Her son Larry was always being pursued by the police. One day, he pulled out a gun on an officer, and was consequently attacked by a police dog. He was sentenced to 25 years in Tehachapi State prison. I don't know what ended up happening to him.

I thought about Betty today because I wondered why bad things happen to good people. I wondered why a woman who loved so deeply, and lived an honest life ended up having to endure so much pain.

Betty was killed as she lay in her bed on February,10 2006. She was stabbed numerous times by her 38 year-old roommate. She made a fateful decision to rent out one of the rooms in her house, and it cost her her life.

There is no rhyme or reason to life.