A few days ago, I searched Sarah's name on the internet and found that one of her friends from Rice had posted something on her blog about Sarah's passing. It was very moving for me to see the picture of Sarah and post about Sarah. Therefore, I now have decided to start a blog of my own...with the first entry about Sarah.
Sarah died unexpectedly in her sleep sometime between 10:27 pm on Wednesday, December 15th, and the time she was supposed to get up to go to work the next morning. She did not show up for work on Thursday, but because she is in a profession that requires her to have lots of out-of-office meetings, it was not considered strange. When she didn't show up again on Friday, her office got worried. They sent people to Sarah's apartment - her car was there, but nobody was answering the phone or the door. The work colleagues got the apartment manager involved, and when the apartment manager got to the apartment, her roommate was home. Paulie, Sarah's roommate, and the apartment manager, went into Sarah's room and found her in the bed - unresponsive. This was at 10:10 am.
My dad received a phone call around 1 pm that afternoon from Houston's Medical Examiner's Office. Brad and I were on our way to Dallas for Christmas. David was supposed to come in from Hartford on Sunday, and Sarah was supposed to come home that night. When Brad and I got off the plane, Dad was with our old family friend, Tim. I thought it was a nice surprise. If Tim was with Dad, that meant Mom and Tim's wife, Jane, were at home cooking us a nice meal. The first question I asked when I got off the plane was "is Sarah coming home tonight or tomorrow morning?" Dad said, "I don't know." I'm still not sure how he could say that without a change in his voice.
We got our luggage and Dad made Brad and me sit in the back seat with him. I thought that was weird, but my Dad shows his affection in odd ways sometimes and since we hadn't seen him since our wedding, I didn't think it was a big deal. Dad told us in the airport parking lot. I have to say that was the worst car ride from the airport of my entire life...
That entire night was a blur. Several people came over, several people called on the phone, but the thing I remember most is just thinking that this whole thing was so surreal. Sarah was going to walk through the door any minute and we would go on and be goofy, like we always were when we got together. We would bang on the piano some, play the stupid duets that we have played since we were in elementary school. We would watch TV, annoy our parents, and just be sisters. Except that night was different, Sarah didn't come home....
Nobody knew how Sarah died until Monday morning. From Friday until Monday, all we had to go on was her last journal entry - written at 10:27 pm on Wednesday night. She had gone to the movies with two of her friends, Hattie and Tania. She had gone to the gynecologist that day and felt proud in that accomplishment. She was enjoying work. She was happy.
From that journal entry, I was relieved. We knew that Sarah didn't commit suicide and there was probably no foul play involved. On Monday, we got a phone call from the medical examiner. She said that slides of Sarah's heart showed signs of myocardial disarray. It seems that Sarah had a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, she has a very odd case; Sarah had no hypertrophy of her heart. She also had never had any signs or symptoms of this disease: no fainting, palpitations, chest pain, etc. Nobody knew she had this deadly, possibly genetic disease, including herself. According to the medical examiner, Sarah's heart misfired and caused a deadly arrhythmia. Sarah never knew what was going on and she died peacefully in her sleep.
I am incredibly sad - deeply and profoundly sad. I feel like a part of me is missing - that some part of me just died along with her. Sarah was not only my big sister by 17 months, but she was my roommate for 15 years, my maid of honor, my partner in crime, my best friend....I know Sarah was loved by so many people. She had many, many friends and the love and support that my family has received has been amazing.
I hope that this entry has cleared up any confusion regarding Sarah's passing. If you have anything to say or add, please feel free to email me. I plan to continue to use this blog for other everyday happenings, so come back when you can....
BETZ, SARAH ELIZABETH, age 25, passed away unexpectedly of apparent natural causes in Houston, Texas, on December 17, 2004. Born November 17, 1979, in Dallas, Texas, Sarah is survived by her parents, George and Kathy Betz of Dallas; sister and brother-in-law Anne and Brad Mitchell of Augusta, Georgia; brother David Betz, a college student; grandmother Ethel Betz of Annapolis, Maryland; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Sarah graduated from Richardson's J.J. Pearce High School in 1998. She was an exceptionally gifted student and excelled in music with the clarinet. Graduating from Rice University with bachelors (2002) and masters (2003) degrees in electrical engineering, Sarah was employed as an electrical engineer at Wylie Associates in Houston. Her great potential was sadly cut short. Sarah will be remembered for her quiet, gentle nature, wry humor, and keen intelligence. Sarah's family and many friends will miss her very much. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts be made to the Sarah Betz Memorial scholarship Fund benefiting the J.J. Pearce Mighty Mustang Band (c/o Signature Bank, 6757 Arapaho Rd., Dallas, TX 75248). The family will receive friends on Monday, December 20, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home, 7405 W. Northwest Hwy, Dallas. A service to celebrate Sarah's life will take place in the sanctuary of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church at 11:00 am on Tuesday, December 21, 2004. Dignity Memorial Sparkman Hillcrest 7405 W. Northwest Hwy. Dallas (214) 363-5401
