Thank You & Missing You

We are deeply humbled and moved by the incredible outpouring of support and love we witnessed today. Our deepest thanks to "A Proper Party" to Jennifer and her darling mother, Lisa; to our sweet COSI friends for their amazing acting today in costumes, to the MANY businesses and people who generously donated time, talent and money to this cause and to the true Angels on earth for their attendance and financial support.

We do not need a special day
To bring you to our minds.
The days we do not think of you
Are very hard to find.

Each morning when we awake,
We know that you are gone.
And no one knows the heartache
As we try to carry on.

Our hearts still ache with sadness
And secret tears still flow.
What it meant to lose you
No one will ever know.

Our thoughts are always with you,
Your place no one can fill.
In life we loved you dearly;
In death we love you still.

There will always be a heartache,
And often a silent tear.
But always a precious memory
Of the days when you were here.

If tears could make a staircase,
And heartaches make a lane,
We'd walk the path to heaven
And bring you home again.

We hold you close within our hearts;
And there you will remain,
To walk with us throughout our lives
Until we meet again.

Our family chain is broken now,
And nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.

Dedication to: Daniel Rush "Missing you today and everyday, my darling son" Love, Mom


Thank you, Kami - "A Proper Party" - event & wedding consultants launching their new business with this event today! Words cannot possibly express how highly we think of them and their work!
Thank you, Kristin - "A Proper Party" - P. O. Box 475 Fremont, OhioThank you, sweet Jennifer and Lisa! Yesterday, Jennifer and her friend released pink balloons from Christi's gravesite. And I understand Christi's friend Cami and her mother left ten balloons out at the cemetery. I just couldn't bring myself to going out there today, but I will soon. THANK YOU thoughtful friends!

Once in our home this afternoon Shayne said, "What did we do to deserve that?" I know we did nothing, but sweet Jennifer was definitely "touched by an angel" and we thank her for putting us in contact with her friends and with Wal-Mart and for getting all of this started! Congrats, sweet Jennifer on finishing your first year of college! We're so proud of you! Thank you for blessing our lives so richly!

I'm still dazed by the magic of it all and would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts. I was choked up much of the afternoon and I don't feel well about how I wasn't really able to talk with many people as I thought I would; it was just so hard. Today I met loving angels on earth for the very first time, and others I had not seen for a long time.

Seeing Christi's friend and their mothers almost always makes me burst into tears on a regular day, not to mention today and I was so touched that they attended - it was the greatest thing, yet so bittersweet for me knowing how special they always made Christi feel and how I know she'd want to be with them too. It mus be so hard to understand this when you're so young (I can't make any sense of it at my age).

Watching some of my former students, now in high school - singing and dancing, moved me to tears as they sang a song from "The Lion King" - a song I'd heard Christi's little voice sing too. I was so proud of my students (and their parents) for giving up their afternoon to share their talents and perform for us. We are so blessed!

Unfortunately, "blogger" isn't allowing me to upload any more pictures tonight! I'll share more in the future. Thank you for lifting us up and for making today a great celebration of life!