I woke up and I saw the white carpet of snow and I laughed.
Many would think it was a terrible day for a funeral, but the way I see it, the
day couldn’t be more perfect. Today the mortal world said goodbye to Russ
Whitaker.
With Russ, you either know him, or you don’t..there was no
in between. When I say he has a big personality, this is no exaggeration. I
can’t exactly remember the first time I met Russ, but I know I never forgot him
after that.
Russ is my friend Kris’s dad. When Kris and his family built
their house just through the field I knew my life would change, and it did.
With Kris around—just like his dad—life was never boring. And Big Russ didn’t
seem to mind me hanging around his house all the time, me, Scott Schryver and
Kris having a great time watching their TVs and eating their food.
Russ also didn’t banish me from their lives when I crashed
on one of his Honda Trail 90s (or maybe he had 110s…) with Kris on the back and
hurt his son. Russ may have gotten me back when, while running an errand after
one of the many adventures I was lucky enough to go on with his family, we
picked up some scrape metal in Woods Cross. Russ told me to jump up in the back
of that ancient green Dodge pickup (had to be from the 1960’s…) and keep that
steel from tipping. I still can’t believe I jump in the truck. The ground was
very uneven, the load shifted and fell over with me under it. By some miracle I
wasn’t hurt too seriously. I hope I never forget that.
The weather for today’s funeral was perfect because some of
my fondest memories of Russ have to do with snow. Russ ran the ski school for
decades. I learned to ski taking that big smelly bus up Ogden Canyon to
Snowbasin. I snowmobiled with Kris and their family up at Monte Cristo, and I
froze my tail off ice fishing on Bear Lake during the famous cisco run. Russ
said to Kris and I after we hauled in all those fish, “Now, get cleaning them!”
That’s Russ.
I saw the snow and I thought of him; I thought of him for
many reasons, but mostly—like it was mentioned at his funeral—he would have
loved the snowy day. And I swear as I watched the snow fall this morning, I could
almost hear him laugh.
Very well put Scott!! I couldn't help but thinking that Russ must have requested the snow fall and I could hear him laughing as well. It's too bad they didn't have a bus to take him around town. It would have been perfect! Thanks for sharing the stories and photos!!
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