Beth Ann Renselle

My dearest friend.....you entered my life when I was 25 and just starting my career. We instantly connected as we had similar senses of humor and common interests, even though we were from separate generations. From the moment we met, you took me under your wing and guided me gently towards making positive and spiritually healthy decisions for myself. You were my constant sounding board for all life's most important decisions and your opinion carried the most weight. You had been drafted as my second mother. You taught me to be intuitive and listen to my inner voice and gut. When my gut wasn't answering me, I would ask you to confer with yours.....You taught me integrity and lived by example. You also taught me to go for my dreams, not to wait until I could work them in. You are/were the epitome of class.

When you laughed, it simply sounded like you were up to something. Your laughter could heal EVERYTHING. And when laughter couldn't fix it, we would resort to chocolate. Many a work lunch consisted of chocolate dessert and we would pick our restaurant by the dessert menu. At 3 in the afternoon we would split a bag of peanut M&Ms, justifying that we were splitting the fat and thus the consequences. Your smile of acceptance coupled with chocolate fixed any ailment I thought I had. You could fix everything.

Your sense of humor was mischievous. Our first and only tax season working together we tried to beat the stress of the tax deadline by celebrating April Fool's Day. We worked for 3 partners at the time and thought we would have a little fun with their offices. For Glen's office we turned all of his hanging awards and pictures upside down. For Jeffrey's office, we hung full sized Snickers candy bars by paperclips from the ceiling. We hung about 20....we left Tom's office alone because he didn't share our sense of humor and we had a moment of self preservation enter our thoughts. The partners loved it and so did the clients they met with that day, even Tom who was grateful we left his office untouched. Good move by us. We both moved on from that employer and went to new opportunities. We stayed in touch and met for lunch weekly. When April Fool's Day came upon us again, we decided to send Jeffrey a box of Snickers anonymously to commemorate the day. You in your classic style took care of everything. You bought the candy, and wrapped and boxed the Snickers bars in fancy tissue as if you were sending crystal. You added an unsigned note that simply said "April Fool's from you know who". We didn't hear from him, but we knew he was laughing with us.

When I think of you Beth, I can't think of one flaw. You were the perfect friend, big sister, mom, everything. You were the living example of a quality woman that I and many others aspired to be as well. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for opening your heart to me, for always, always being there and for leaving me with some of the happiest memories I'll ever have, for loving me. We'll see each other one day again and have lots of catching up to do. Until that time comes, I will miss you greatly. Love you.