“I live my life to the fullest and I’m determined to continue doing so- We Can Do It!”
I worked on Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) both on and off the flightline. I was basically a grease monkey – “Jackie of all trades, master of none”. I joined when I was 17 and straight out of high school and at the time, I mostly enjoyed traveling, experiencing new corners of the world, meeting new people, opening my mind to new possibilities. Looking back, I realize I’m mostly grateful for having a job that taught me how to read a schematic and use common tools to do basic repairs-both things that I probably would not have learned otherwise. It has shaped my future to make me the woman I am today. I am blessed to come from a family with many years of military service: my mom and dad, my husband, an aunt and uncle, three of our grandfathers, and a father-in-law and sister-in-law.
After the military, I graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and I credit my experience in the Air Force for guiding that decision. I naturally fell into Integration and Test Engineering and excelled enough that I was recently recruited into Quality Engineering. Although I’m not permitted to discuss much about the products we create, I can say that I am very proud of our mission and the work our customers do. We truly make a difference every day.
I am lucky enough to have married a Kennedy Space Center Firefighter after graduating from college, and we have been together around 10 years. Since kidney disease runs in my family, we have decided to not have biological children. We have considered fostering then adopting, but the timing has not worked out yet. We do consistently rescue and adopt kitties; we have three fur babies, Buckets (Bucky) was recently saved less than a year ago.
I have a TON of hobbies, I can’t not be doing something! Anytime I see a video on social media I think “I can do that!” and then I do it. I really enjoy creating things especially. During COVID I got into woodworking, my first project was to renovate our home foyer. My dad taught me how to use a sewing machine (while in the military he would sew patches on uniforms for a pack of beer), and my mom taught me how to read a pattern. We sewed a few Victorian dresses that we wore to their town’s 1890s festival to raise money for a friend with a young daughter fighting cancer. I also like baking, 3D printing, travelling, reading, gardening, crafting, and shooting.
I am only 40 and my husband and I still have a desire to foster kids and hope to adopt through the Florida Foster to Adopt program. For years this has been the plan but unfortunately has been delayed due to my kidney disease.
For medically cleared donors, giving the gift of life through living kidney donation has been proven to be very safe. DOVE will assist all prospective donors throughout the process and make sure they do not incur any out-of-pocket expenses related to the evaluation or surgery. A healthy person can live a normal life with one kidney and save Rebecca’s life with the other!
Your support, whether through spreading the word on social media or considering becoming a donor, can make a profound impact on his life and the life of his family!
Please click on the link below if you would like to learn more OR call (551) 233-1611