November 5, 2020: Bobby Russ
This year I haven't been as into football as in the previous years. Just between the tragedy, political stuff, virus stuff, etc, just haven't been able to get into it. I've ran a picking group since 1999 and I've lost a bit of that passion. I've been lucky enough to go to several games over the years.
This leads to a memory. Renee Row was always a big Bears fan thanks in part to where she used to live. We had a sort of agreement though that since I was a Dolphins fan and she was a Bears fan we could root for each other's teams unless... they played each other.
So, when the Bears were scheduled to come to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars, Renee wanted to see about going. She made up a plan for us to stay in a hotel and go to the game. It would be the first time that we would see the Bears play and unfortunately the last time as well. We always wanted to go see a game in Chicago, but circumstances never came together. We always thought we had more time. It's something that we took for granted.
With that said, she was great in living in the moment. We had a blast at the game and I ended up horse while she lost her voice entirely. We also saw someone who was really a bears fan. How big? They walked around in a bears costume. Renee thought that was so awesome and HAD to have her picture taken. Of course, I was happy to oblige her.
She was passionate about her love for the Bears. We talked about the team off and on for years. Laughing and joking about how bad they were, how Cutler was, and how she hoped so many things for the organization. It was nice to be able to share something she felt was fun with her. I can appreciate the teasing and jokes about how good/bad one of our teams were.
Renee would have been so happy to see how well they were doing and would be cheering them on. Sometimes it's the little things in life we have to appreciate.
Of course she lived in the moment. She knew something the rest of us sometimes miss. Life is for the living. She made each thing we talked about seem so new and exciting. I'm so very blessed to have known her as long as I did and so very thankful to have known her.