Facebook Stories

September 22, 2020: Bobby Russ

Today, I drove by the crash site to visit with someone who worked for Renee. I had a great lunch with them. Before I got there, I had already planned to do a moment of silence for Renee since at 12:15 it would have been exactly 2 months since she was taken from us. The last song that was in the middle of being played when 12:15 hit was a Cranberries song called "Can't Be With You". It was an odd coincidence. It made me tear up as it's lyrics hit home hard.

I do miss being able to cry on her shoulder, hold her hands, or even just tell her my frustrations and fears. She was always great at listening to problems. She was a great sounding board. No matter what was going on with people, she would be there. Sometimes she could act like a bridge between parties as well helping both sides feel better.

She was an amazing listener. Sometimes we don't need people to tell us solutions to a problem, but rather have someone who will let us talk and ask questions. She was great at helping me flesh out solutions sometimes just by guiding my questions. She was pretty easy going and helpful.

It reminds me of a memory... Back in Chrismas 2014, Renee and I officially gave each other gifts. We recorded both sets of gifts, but the one I want to focus on today was the gift she officially gave me. Imagine if you will we are sitting at our dining table and she hands me a box wrapped. I unwrap the wrapping paper and see a box of a toaster over. That's kind of funny in it's own right... because it looks just like the toaster oven that we already had on the kitchen counter.

So, I open the box... to find balloons inside of it. I took all of the balloons out (and threw them at her) and found another wrapped box. I unwrapped and opened that box to find another box wrapped up in tissue paper. I commented that it was like one of those Russian nesting dolls.

Renee commented that it took over 3 minutes to open the present and most kids could open it in less than 1 minute. We laughed. I opened one box to see a ring that read: "Bobby's Shortcake" and the other box had one that said "Renee's Sunshine". They were a matching set. Renee asked me to put hers on her which I gladly did. She then asked if I want her to put mine on me which I wanted.

This set of rings were a promise to each other for the future. Our love sealed further by a gift. She was always my "strawberry shortcake" which she loved. Little did I know, years ago she actually had a shirt with it. It was something I found when going through the images she had. I always knew she liked being called that by me.

As such, I also decided to purchase a Strawberry Shortcake pin which I had attached to my work vest. This way she can always be near my heart while I work and honor her service to the company and to my work career as well. You were always great with helping us and we appreciate you so much.