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Her Life

The Life of Tiffany Reck

May 20, 2011

Born February 6, 1978, in Rexburg, Idaho, and named Tiffany Janine Bush, by her parents, Miles and Becky, my sister brought warmth and joy into the world from her very first day. But little Tiffany was not whole. Frail, underweight, and unable to digest any of the nourishment our mother tried to give her, Tiffany’s life was in jeopardy from the very beginning. For weeks at the hospital, many tests were performed and life-saving measures taken on the distressed infant, but she continued to deteriorate, and it seemed inevitable that we would lose her. A wise old doctor, however, admonished my parents to just take her home and love her, and she would be ok, and that is exactly what happened. Tiffany’s life was spared, not through medical technology, but through love, and that has been the theme of her life.

Beginning her childhood in Rigby, Idaho, as the fifth of nine children, Tiffany was full of life and sweet, tender kindness and compassion. She was the smallest of all of us, and yet had the biggest heart. As a toddler, she swallowed a penny, which is fairly common for a child of her age, and yet the penny did not pass through her, as it normally would, but instead lodged itself in her throat, blocking the passage of food or water for days, again threatening her life, until it was discovered in an x-ray, and removed through a medical procedure, but that penny had damaged Tiffany’s tiny, undersized throat, causing a lifetime of difficulty in swallowing, and in getting food to pass to her stomach. At the same time, Little Tiffany had begun to show signs of emotional distress, far different from the rants of your average dissatisfied toddler, these were scary bouts of uncontrolled rage and terrified fury, which went on for hours, only to return her to the sweet, docile, tender-hearted Tiffany that we all knew and loved. From the very beginning of her fragile existence, the dark clouds of an unknown tempest had begun to form on her horizon.Our father served in a bishopric of one of the student wards at Rick’s College, which has now become BYU Idaho, and he would often take us to meetings, activities and conferences at the college. On one special Sunday, it was little Tiffany’s turn to go with Daddy to the student ward, this time for a large Stake conference, held in a huge auditorium full of students and members of ward and stake leadership. It was asked that the members of each bishopric come forward to sit on the stage, and to bring with them their sweethearts, to sit with them.  Our father came forward, and carried with him his tiny sweetheart Tiffany, to accompany him on that special occasion.           

Tiffany’s childhood was split in between a life in Idaho, and a life in Pennsylvania, equally, she split the nine children in half, with four older siblings, the “big kids” above her, and four younger siblings, the “little kids” below her. She wasn’t one of the “big kids”, and was therefore often exempted from their wild, hair-raising adventures in the neighbor’s garden, incredible journeys into the great unknown via bicycle, or the thrill of great enterprise, with the entrepreneurial spirit that came with selling painted rocks to the helpless neighbors down the block. At the same time, she didn’t fit in with the little kids, who were responsible for loading diapers, making sticky messes, and coloring with crayons on the wall. Tiffany often found herself alone, having to find ways to entertain herself. She was always sweet, spiritual, kind and compassionate, reaching out with love and comfort to everyone around her, yet she often felt so very much alone in her own little world of despair.Because of her huge heart, and sweet nature, and in part because of her loneliness and inner turmoil, Tiffany had always reached out with a non-judgmental, unwavering, unconditional Christ like love, to everyone she came into contact with, paying special attention to the less popular, the forgotten, and the misunderstood children of God in her midst. She was often seen with an arm around other kids who didn’t fit in, or who were lonely or sad for their own reasons. She was always ready to offer kind words of comfort or encouragement to the downtrodden, the lost, and the wayward souls she encountered, never accepting praise or reward for her humble kindness or charity to those around her.Tiffany expressed herself through art, through music and photography, she saw the beauty hidden in everything around her, and attempted to capture that beauty as a means of comfort for her self. She captured and shared that beauty, and by so doing, was sometimes able to cover the dark clouds of despair that were slowly building up within her mind, and was sometimes able to escape from her pain through art and music.Tiffany met her teen-aged sweetheart, Adam Reck, when she was only ten, and harbored a secret crush on him for many years. Adam, the cool, easy-going Chevette-driving, stylish clothes-wearing young man, who actually had his eye on her older sister Autumn, was Tiffany’s secret love, and she knew that some day he’d come to his senses and marry her. Sure enough, after both had gone through heartache and failed relationships, they ended up in each other’s arms, and they were married in her twentieth year.Adam was Tiffany’s whole world, her rock in the stormy sea of her emotion, her safe place, and her eternal companion. Just as Tiffany had always shown unconditional Christ like love to everyone around her, Adam has shown an unconditional Christ like love for his dear Tiffany, through thick, and thin, through poverty and peace, through sickness, miscarriages, mental illness, medically afflicted children, pain, and so much suffering. Adam never left her side, even when her spirit longed to be free from the pain of this world.Tiffany’s life was filled with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She could not be separated from her beloved scriptures, and never missed an opportunity to share her testimony. The Recks’ home has always been filled with spiritual and uplifting music. On the wall hangs a framed portrait of the Savior, the shelves are adorned with scripture and books of praise, the very air seems moved by the Spirit. Tiffany and Adam have four children, Tori, Lillie, Dillin and Sabrina, children born of goodly parents, who have always been taught in love and righteousness. Any yet, the torment and anguish of a bipolar condition continued to eat away at our little Tiffany, consuming her both physically and emotionally. Over the years a manic state of mind would more and more frequently take over her body, leaving her helpless against the terror and rage of her condition, often unable to regain control, despite medication, counseling, therapy and even institutional commitment. And yet, Tiffany never lost her faith in God’s great gospel plan; never lost hope in healing, never failed in her role of loving mother or wife.Tiffany was killed by her bipolar disease, which ravaged her mind, and destroyed her body. She watched helplessly as this disease took control, and cut short her life, breaking the hearts of her family and friends. She was no more responsible than a person killed by cancer, and was far more terrified. But now our sweet Tiffany suffers no more. She is now surrounded by the arms of our Grandma Glenna, The other family sweetheart that little Tiffany had always called her “twin”, because of how much alike they look, and because of the sweet, loving tenderness that they shared, one for another, and both for everyone around them. Grandma Glenna passed away several weeks before Tiffany, and prepared the way for her. Tiffany now waits to be reunited with her family, and to spend the rest of eternity, free from sickness, fear, turmoil or despair, with her Father in Heaven, and her Eternal family, in a mansion on high. Allow me now to share with you a poem, written by her loving husband Adam:


My World

My world with you is beyond compare

Please know I could never bear

Not having you to share

Every moment here and there 

Eternity is where we’ll be

You just have to wait for me

Your help has always set me free

With open eyes you will see 

Our life together started with two

I needed and should have waited for you

Oh, how, I was so blue

Until you rescued, me with you 

The past is the past, and we’ll let it go

Never forgetting, but in the future I’ll show

I do love you, so much more than you know

My Princess Tiffany, oh how you glow! 

With love and kindness, and pure joy

You work, toil, slave, then ask for more

To show me how much, I am just a boy

You forgive, and move on, and never bore 

I often miss, and do not see

Oh how much you truly love me!

I hope that I, never will miss

A moment we can feel like this 

I know it is too much to ask

But I need you to complete, just one task

Love me so much, and do not hurt

And we’ll make it together, a new birth 

Celestial glory, a new world for us

Oh how I do, just want to rush!

Let’s go get there right now, I say

What is with all the delay? 

Oh yea, I know, I’m not ready yet

Silly me, how did I forget?

Be better, be stronger, more faithful too

I need to catch up, to be with you 

Please always know, that I do care

Eternity, yes, we will share

Together, we will always be there

And you and me, always a pair!