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Joe
It has taken many years to come here and write! I was 17 yrs old when you were killed and have never forgot that horrible night when 2 officers came to us and said you had been shot and things were bad. I was not prepared for the days that followed. Our lives together were cut short and that has been so tough to deal with over the years. I constantly wonder to myself how life would have been different had you not been taken from us! You changed my life in ways that I never had the chance to tell you.......
When you married my mom (Nancy S. Rich) it was tough for me and my brother Tommy since we had grown up without a father. You tried so hard to make us realize that you were not trying to take our mom from us but was only trying to give us a father that we never had. I will never forget all the work you put into getting the bedrooms ready for Tommy and I when we were getting ready to move in with you and Randy. I remember the talks we had, you always told me that I could do anything that I put my mind to and how special I was! You don't know how special I felt to finally tell people that I had a father and he was a police officer. When I was younger I would always ask God to send me and Tommy a dad. When you married my mom, God answered my prayers! My mom has told me how you felt so bad for me and Tommy having to grow up without a father and how you were so happy to be able to provide a nice home for us and a different way of life.
When I was getting ready to turn 16 you and my mom were trying to figure out what kind of car to get me and you had indicated that a friend had some sort of older car to which I cannot remember at this time what it was, but back then when I figured out what kind of car it was I thought oh noo, that car is too big and of course not very "cool looking". Just before taking my driving test you told me that I could have the black Camaro that you had bought for yourself some time before. I nearly freaked out, I loved that car! You told me I would have to pay you payments for the car but that was just fine with me. My only fear was that the car required shifting gears and that was a huge issue in my mind. On your day off you loaded the car with orange cones and off to the fairgrounds we went. You told me so many stories that day, those that you had encountered as a police officer and having to come up on a car accident scene with a young person and how it ripped your heart out that they did not listen and pay attention while driving. By the end of the day I knew how to shift the gears in that car, not to drive with the radio cranking to that horrible rock music that you did not know how in the world I listened to since all they ever did is repeat themselves over and over and to always be aware of the other person. To this day I have never forgotten all that you taught me, I will never forget that day. You created a contract just as if I had gone to a dealership to purchase a car, you wanted me to learn the process of building credit. You had me setup a bank acct and have $500 in the bank before I drove the car. I did everything that you had required back then, I did not realize at that time that you were preparing me for the big world and that it did!
I will never forget our first Christmas together you were soo happy. I never knew what it was like to have a complete family but you changed all that. We had some great times as a family, something that was new to me and my brother. I have to laugh when I think of the night we were all watching a scary movie in the family room and you disappeared, we just thought you went to the bathroom. As we were sitting there looking at the TV we were all scared out of our minds by someone banging on the sliding glass door in a mask, it was you laughing so hard you were almost in tears. To this day we talk about that night you scared us soo bad, you had so much fun and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. I am so thankful for all the great memories that I have about you and the family!
A year after you were taken from us I met Jeff, you would have loved him. He became so important to me, we dated for 2 yrs and on Oct. 21, 1989 we got married. We have now been married for 22 yrs, so many things have happened in my life but I have never forgotten about you! The day I got married I thought about you all day long, and how I had wished that it was you that was walking me down the aisle and not a family friend! It took some time for me to realize Jeff was alot like you. If you had not married my mom I often wonder If I would have picked the right guy to marry. He treats me like a queen, which is what you did for my mom. You changed her life and made her the happiest she had ever been. I remember her cooking dinner so that it was hot when you got home from working all day. I could not have had a better example for the kind of guy that I should marry.
On April 14th, 1991 I had my first son Ryan, and then Scott on July 17, 1994...I know that you had a hand in helping God pick them out for me! Those 2 boys have changed me life, I could not wait till they grew up and I could tell them about my step-dad Joe, and how he would have loved them soo much. I remember you talking about your daughter Kathy, son Randy, and me and Tommy giving you grand kids some day. How I wish you could have been here to enjoy all the grand kids you have been blessed with!
Every year on the anniversary of your passing I always ask God to tell you I said hello and tell you that we miss you! Life changed the day you left us but the mark you created on my life will never be erased! You touched soo many lives, and changed our lives for the better. I am soo grateful for all the things that you did for me and my brother. Thank you for showing me what it was like to have a father and thank you for allowing my mom to know what it was like to be loved. You made me a better person and taught me so much during the time that we were in each others lives. To this day I am soo proud to say that Joe Rich was my step dad and a great one at that!!
I miss you soo much it hurts at times
but know that one day we will all be
together in Heaven. What a day that
will be. Love you!
Jody Aberegg Lane
Your Step-Daughter
November 22, 2011
