4-18-05

Riki was a 28 year old resident of Saint Amant Louisiana. She is married to Travis Leader of Galvez Louisiana and has one daughter, Rylee Kay Leader who is 9 months old. Riki was diagnosed with AML Leukemia on October 9th 2004 at Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge.

It is my intention for friends and family to use this site to see pics of Riki and her family as well as my growing family and to keep up with the wonderful memory of Riki only befitting of such an amazing person.

Excerpts from my memoirs...4/21/05

In an effort to describe Riki and her most admirable traits, I find it too cliché to use the same old phrases. So in light of this, I have decided to describe Riki to those who were not as fortunate as I was to know her so deeply. The following text is excerpts from my memoirs.

Riki was for the most part, a great judge of people. She was the type of person who could infect you with a bubbly/happy personality and keep you smiling all day. She attracted people to her because of this and it made her friend finder work non-stop till the day she passed.  I shouldn’t limit Riki’s descriptions to just a few short overused words. I would not be able to do her lively spirit justice unless I mentioned the many other attributes that made Riki the person she was.

Funny – it’s the first one that comes to mind. It has always been in Riki’s nature (as well as mine) to “keep the ball rolling” with laughter. Riki and I were always clowning around about something. All those who knew Riki could attest to her non-stop talking and quick one liners. That funny short and pulsated laugh she had that was so funny, people usually laughed at it. She always saw the glass as half full.

Smart – Riki had above average grades in school, but did so without trying too hard. As a mom and a wife, she was a creative genius and queen of her castle. The rules applied to all regardless of affiliation. She was never without anything her family needed and shouldered all of the burden. Her wisdom is best described within her responsibility.

Responsible – There is little doubt that she was the center of what a family unit needs to hold together. She was in a way, Super woman as many of us referred to her.  The grocery getter, bill payer, call maker, cook, baby caregiver, house cleaner and stand up comic made up a day in Riki’s world. She was able to create balance with many hats to wear.

Loving – We were both brought up in a loving environment. Affection by means of hugs and kisses were an everyday norm for our family. This upbringing carried over to everyone in Riki’s life. There was a constant physical affection to friends and family everyday they met. Poor Rylee was Riki’s focal point for sometime. During Riki’s days in the hospital when her immune system was down, it was hard for the hospital staff and family to caution her about being such a touchy-feely type person. We had the hardest time with visitors not knowing about her immune system yet walking in the door and giving Riki a big hug and kiss. This was not a huge problem, but it made us a bit nervous. I remember Riki telling me that she kissed Rylee so much that she feared she would “suck her face off!”. Now that’s love.

Sincere – Riki always meant what she said (when being serious) and didn’t beat around the bush to make her point clear. She had a special way of going straight to the point, regardless of feelings, but by doing so earned the respect of her peers. Her “in your face” Attitude served her well during her married years, finding true friends and keeping her brother in check. I like to think that I somehow played a major role in making Riki’s “in your face” attitude come to be.  As Riki and I got closer in the last 5 months of her life, I realized how much we were alike.  She would not hold her opinion back if she thought you needed to hear it, but did it in a way that she told you what you needed to hear.

Optimistic – Riki was always a fan of the cup that was half full; there was a silver lining in every dark cloud.  She was never depressed.  She was always positive and cheery.  Her continuous positive spirit kept those around her on the bright side too.  Her smile was amazing and beautiful. 

A Love Of Music – Riki’s dancing years and growing up beside me made her into a lover of music.  There were many times when we were younger when she would take my music cd’s or tapes, copy it, steal it or whatever she could do to get it.  When she was in high school and worked part time at the Guess store at Tanger Outlet Mall, her money would go to clothes and cassette tapes.  Our combined music library was massive.  Whether she was out with friends or at home on a weekend, music was always playing and it seemed Riki new every song.  Later she got admitted into the hospital for her AML, Dad bought her a personal CD MP3 player and I brought her my entire 5000 MP3 Library to enjoy and help make her day pass faster.  Riki was a fan of many types of music, but her favorite was Grunge Rock like Bush and Pearl Jam. 

Faithful – Riki and I never grew up in a very religious home.  We were given an opportunity to explore different Christian religions at an age when Mom and Dad thought appropriate. When she started dating Travis, who came from a very religious family, Riki renewed her faith and made great efforts to become committed to that faith.  She attended services regularly and tried to live her life in the same fashion as she believed.  I know her faith in God was strong and I have no doubt that she was glorified in the Spirit and is in everlasting joy and peace. The same words hold true to her commitment to her husband, family and friends. Forever faithful.

I hope these simple words and definitions were able to help paint a picture of Riki that is as brilliantly colored as she was.  I’m sure we all have our bad days and embarrassments as I’m sure Riki did.  But there is no doubt that all of the wonderful things she was completely outweighs anything else.