Comments from David in 2002:

Wanted to let you know that Penny was my wife.  I'm happy to know that she's still being thought about by her Forest Hill friends.  She used to talk about Forest Hill often - about her friends - the rivalry with Clinton.....

Penny was a very devout Christian - very active in our church - and a very good wife to me and a wonderful mother to Meghann.  I'm so lucky and fortunate to have been her husband for almost 20 years.  She absolutely lived her life for Meg - I've never known a mom that loved a child more than Penny loved Meghann.  Oh, and she was a great cook - not just a good cook - she was a great cook.  And she loved to travel.  Fortunately, she was able to travel with me to a lot of neat places over the years. 

She suffered so much over the years - it's just hard to understand how someone can go through so much in a lifetime.  She had many friends who truly cared about her.  We miss her dearly.  There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of her.  Penny was 38 when she died on April 17, 1999.  She suffered a lot in life, being diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was 4.  She lost one of her eyes and both her kidneys to diabetes.  We called her the bionic woman - because she had 2 transplants - got part of her Mom's pancreas and later got one of her kidneys.  We couldn't believe it when we found out she had breast cancer.  Of course, we thought we could beat that, too.  She was so brave and faithful until the end.  There will never ever be another like her.  Never. 

Meg is 18 now (in 2002) and a freshman at Ole Miss - which would be so tough on Penny since she went to MSU and I went to USM - and of course it was natural for both of us to hate Ole Miss - but you know - kids have a mind of their own.  Meg's a good kid - she's turning out a lot like her Mom - and I'm thankful to God for that. 

Thanks for being a friend to Penny.