At this time, I can't remember whether it was late in 2010 or early in 2011 that Russell told me that there was going to come a time when we would be out-of-contact for a long period of time.
No email, no snail-mail, no telephone calls...
He might or might not have known how long this would last. All I know is that he didn't tell me anything else.
One day, I called him to talk, and he was gone--just like that...
Nobody (the management at his SRO apartment complex, the police, area hospitals, etc.) would tell me anything about his whereabouts.
Neither did some friends in the area.
I could tell that some of them probably knew more than they were letting on, but they wouldn't crack.
In a sense, it was, likely, better that way.
To make a long story short, Russell had some plans to become a whistle-blower re: some injustice that he had been observing, so my guess is that he's in some kind of a witness protection program.
Several months after he disappeared, I was given the story that he had been murdered--but not right after he had disappeared but, instead, later.
This story didn't really add up for me. Perhaps, it was because I didn't want it to add up for me, so I was grasping at straws, but there are certain parts that make me believe that this isn't the truth.
I hope I'm right, as the details of the murder weren't what I'd wish on anybody but, especially, not a very fragile 70 year old man.
In short, I have the feeling that Russell won't be showing up anywhere soon, so, to me, his disappearance is like the death of a very dear friend.
I miss my playmate and all of the goofy telephone conversations we had late at night. I miss receiving "just because" gifts from him in the mail (usually, an adorable stuffed animal or some kind of very special food such as chocolates and/or packages containing cheese, crackers, summer sausage, etc.).
Even more than that, I miss having him keeping our organization going.
There are various websites around now, and what they say is the same important message that's contained in our mission statement.
However, certain parts of them will never work again such as where the buttons that generated donations no longer go into an active bank account where, from there, they went to help our kids.
In short, if you see any sort of cash generator on these dated websites, don't bother to donate, because it no longer goes anywhere. It probably becomes like some sort of a dead letter.
As Russell's friend and a supporter of the same mission, I'm choosing to keep IYN going in the best way that I can, and that way is to simply operate it as a networking tool that I hope will inspire and encourage others to reach out to our kids in helpful and compassionate ways.
One thing I can tell you for sure is that IYN is 100% AGAINST those nightmarish boot-camp set-ups that are abusive to young people who are already hurting.
At one time, we were hoping to set up a number of places--everything from apartments to camps/ranches in the wilderness--where the ones who wanted to come in out of the cold could stay.
There would be some necessary rules for our kids to follow, but not just a bunch of power-trip rules to show them who was boss--and those few necessary rules would never be enforced through the use of abuse.
The purpose of this blog will be to find and write about examples of compassionate care being shown to our kids.
This is, in short, a blog-on-the-grow, so please return often...
No email, no snail-mail, no telephone calls...
He might or might not have known how long this would last. All I know is that he didn't tell me anything else.
One day, I called him to talk, and he was gone--just like that...
Nobody (the management at his SRO apartment complex, the police, area hospitals, etc.) would tell me anything about his whereabouts.
Neither did some friends in the area.
I could tell that some of them probably knew more than they were letting on, but they wouldn't crack.
In a sense, it was, likely, better that way.
To make a long story short, Russell had some plans to become a whistle-blower re: some injustice that he had been observing, so my guess is that he's in some kind of a witness protection program.
Several months after he disappeared, I was given the story that he had been murdered--but not right after he had disappeared but, instead, later.
This story didn't really add up for me. Perhaps, it was because I didn't want it to add up for me, so I was grasping at straws, but there are certain parts that make me believe that this isn't the truth.
I hope I'm right, as the details of the murder weren't what I'd wish on anybody but, especially, not a very fragile 70 year old man.
In short, I have the feeling that Russell won't be showing up anywhere soon, so, to me, his disappearance is like the death of a very dear friend.
I miss my playmate and all of the goofy telephone conversations we had late at night. I miss receiving "just because" gifts from him in the mail (usually, an adorable stuffed animal or some kind of very special food such as chocolates and/or packages containing cheese, crackers, summer sausage, etc.).
Even more than that, I miss having him keeping our organization going.
There are various websites around now, and what they say is the same important message that's contained in our mission statement.
However, certain parts of them will never work again such as where the buttons that generated donations no longer go into an active bank account where, from there, they went to help our kids.
In short, if you see any sort of cash generator on these dated websites, don't bother to donate, because it no longer goes anywhere. It probably becomes like some sort of a dead letter.
As Russell's friend and a supporter of the same mission, I'm choosing to keep IYN going in the best way that I can, and that way is to simply operate it as a networking tool that I hope will inspire and encourage others to reach out to our kids in helpful and compassionate ways.
One thing I can tell you for sure is that IYN is 100% AGAINST those nightmarish boot-camp set-ups that are abusive to young people who are already hurting.
At one time, we were hoping to set up a number of places--everything from apartments to camps/ranches in the wilderness--where the ones who wanted to come in out of the cold could stay.
There would be some necessary rules for our kids to follow, but not just a bunch of power-trip rules to show them who was boss--and those few necessary rules would never be enforced through the use of abuse.
The purpose of this blog will be to find and write about examples of compassionate care being shown to our kids.
This is, in short, a blog-on-the-grow, so please return often...
