There’s a small memorial near the Rose and Crown Pub in Tsawwassen for my neighbour who died during an altercation in mid-December. Bouquets of roses and carnations wrapped with cellophane are strapped to a railing, and there’s a photo of two handsome, sun-kissed young men with their arms wrapped around each other smiling. Beneath it reads, “RIP Russ you were taken too soon, you will be loved and remembered forever.”
I didn’t know Russ, but I knew him through neighbours who were on the receiving end of his generosity. Like the time my friend came home from a late shift and he was on her roof in the pouring rain adjusting tarps he had placed to protect her from leaks.
Russ was respected by many in our South Delta community, like Darin Mould of McGregor Realty, who hired Russ to work on his properties. He still has trouble keeping it together every time he drives by the growing memorial. “Russ was the kind of guy that would take the shirt off his back to help someone in need,” says Mould. “I’m still shaken up.”
Shelley Metrow, owner of the Rose and Crown, has known Russ for 30 years. She finds it hard to express the depth of her grief in words, saying, “This has been the worst Christmas of my life.” She’s anxious to know what happened outside her pub after closing, and counts his death as a huge loss to our community.
On my nightly dog walks I always stop in front of Russ’s house because Rosie loves to sniff around his fence. I used to see him padding around his living room or relaxing on the couch with a bowl of snacks in front of the television in his cozy home.
Now when we walk by at night I notice the snow on his truck hasn’t been removed and there’s no yellow light on. There’s an eerie quiet around the house, and it strikes me that someone has died in our community after enjoying an evening of music at the local pub with his daughter.
His death reminds me that we are all fragile, vulnerable to the mysteries of the world unfolding around us. When good and bad collide sometimes people lose their lives and it’s a tragedy that should not go unnoticed, whether we live our lives big or small.
I am mindful of a life lived and taken only a few steps away from where I live.
Ingrid Abbott is a freelance broadcaster and writer who believes that everyone has a story worth telling.
