Not a humorous post
This post is a downer of the worst kind. It will not make you laugh. So there, you've been warned.
We here in Milwaukee are recovering now from horror so unspeakable that I can barely type it. I guess it hits my family harder because we just returned, safe and sound Thank Gd, from the road trip.
For the factual Milwaukee Journal article follow this link. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul05/338123.asp
For the rest of the story, continue here.
My friend, Debbie Rennert, was killed early Friday morning in an accident on the highway. The van, her husband was driving, loaded with kids, driving up to camp in the mountains in NY and a family wedding, rear ended a semi on the Skokie hwy, route 41, Highland Park, and she was killed instantly. Her children and husband survived without much harm. Debbie left 10 children here on this earth. The youngest is a boy 4 months old. The oldest is a boy in his 20s, the rest are girls.
The funeral was in Milwaukee last Sat. night, which started around 11:30 at WITS. My husband and I, and our oldest son who goes to school there and Fudge, who is friends with the girls. 7 of the 8 girls were there, the toddler and infant were left with the babysitter. On a horrible scale of 1-10 this was about a 15.
7/12/05 Update
The Rennert Family is due back in Milwaukee today. I am told that they are all doing better and we as a community are preparing for their return. I have been asked to post the following links for people who are able to help of contribute.
The website, http://www.kerendevorah.org/ has hespedim, the Milwaukee Levaya audio, etc. concerning the passing of Mrs. Debbie Rennert.
Keren Devorah Fund
c/o WITS
3288 N. Lake Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53211
8/3/05
This blog has been editted. Shoshim has past, and it is time to heal. Everyone is finding a new normal, although it still has the feeling of a bad dream. I still turn around and expect to see Debbie smiling behind me, or hear a laugh and think it's her. Still trying to wake up from a bad dream. The kids are okay, talking, growing...... living. We just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep on going. It's time to go on.
We here in Milwaukee are recovering now from horror so unspeakable that I can barely type it. I guess it hits my family harder because we just returned, safe and sound Thank Gd, from the road trip.
For the factual Milwaukee Journal article follow this link. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul05/338123.asp
For the rest of the story, continue here.
My friend, Debbie Rennert, was killed early Friday morning in an accident on the highway. The van, her husband was driving, loaded with kids, driving up to camp in the mountains in NY and a family wedding, rear ended a semi on the Skokie hwy, route 41, Highland Park, and she was killed instantly. Her children and husband survived without much harm. Debbie left 10 children here on this earth. The youngest is a boy 4 months old. The oldest is a boy in his 20s, the rest are girls.
The funeral was in Milwaukee last Sat. night, which started around 11:30 at WITS. My husband and I, and our oldest son who goes to school there and Fudge, who is friends with the girls. 7 of the 8 girls were there, the toddler and infant were left with the babysitter. On a horrible scale of 1-10 this was about a 15.
7/12/05 Update
The Rennert Family is due back in Milwaukee today. I am told that they are all doing better and we as a community are preparing for their return. I have been asked to post the following links for people who are able to help of contribute.
The website, http://www.kerendevorah.org/ has hespedim, the Milwaukee Levaya audio, etc. concerning the passing of Mrs. Debbie Rennert.
Keren Devorah Fund
c/o WITS
3288 N. Lake Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53211
8/3/05
This blog has been editted. Shoshim has past, and it is time to heal. Everyone is finding a new normal, although it still has the feeling of a bad dream. I still turn around and expect to see Debbie smiling behind me, or hear a laugh and think it's her. Still trying to wake up from a bad dream. The kids are okay, talking, growing...... living. We just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep on going. It's time to go on.
posted by Mrs. Balabusta @ 5:30 PM
22 Comments:
At 11:41 AM,
Chaim said…
That story is simply heart-breaking.
Baruch Hashem, the wonderful thing about Jewish Communities, is that they will undoubtedly be there to support, help and be there for those kids in anyway I'm sure. That's simply heartbreaking. Is there any fund set up yet? I'd like to point people in a direction to help if they can. Please Advise. Thanks
At 11:59 AM,
Just Passing Through said…
I was at the funeral in Queens. I drove my mother who grew up with Debbie. Something like this affects us all; even if we don't know them. We should only see simcha.
At 12:19 PM,
Mrs. Balabusta said…
Contributions in Debbie's memory can be sent to the Wis Inst for Torah Study
3288 N. Lake Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53212
414-961-9317
www.witshighschool@yahoo.com
At 12:30 PM,
Jack's Shack said…
I am so sorry to hear about this.
At 12:32 PM,
Chaim said…
thanks for the info, I've posted a entry with the info.
At 12:42 PM,
A Simple Jew said…
I feel powerless when reading this. All I can do is sit in silence with tears in my eyes.
Thank you for the information about tzedakah. (also can be found here: http://www.witsyeshiva.com/wits1/index.asp
At 1:25 PM,
Air Time said…
I was sorry to hear about this story. My brother went to WITS, and he had this to say about the family.
http://rockofgalilee.blogspot.com/2005/07/moment-of-silence.html
At 3:56 PM,
Mrs. Balabusta said…
I will never cease to be amazed by the sheer number of people who knew Debbie and the distribution over the planet today. It's not like she went on expeditions around the globe. But from steady, unwavering dedication, even in this small corner of the world, great things can happen. What you do, and how you do it, even in Milwaukee, can make a difference across the chasm of not only space but time.
Thank you all for your nechamos.
At 4:33 PM,
jodigirl said…
I miss my kitty too...hmmmmm
At 4:39 PM,
Doctor Bean said…
Terrible. I have no words. I wish you and your husband some comfort. But what to wish for Debbie's family? I don't even know.
At 5:34 PM,
Mirty said…
May Hashem comfort her family and friends.
At 5:22 AM,
zahava (mrs. treppenwitz) said…
Baruch dayan emet.
I know I too will lavish some extra attention on my family.... This is simply too awful for words.
If you think that it might help some of the older girls, Hope Edelman wrote a book called "Motherless Daughters." Edelman lost her mother to cancer when she was a teeneager -- several years after the death, she realized that contrary to the clinically defined stages of grief and mourning, she was not in synch with the "expectations." As a result, she launched her own study of grief and mourning, specific to the relationship between mother's and daughters. This book is the result of her hard and painful journey.
It is not an easy read, by any means, but it is a read which offered a considerable amount of comfort, and a better understanding of both the nature of the loss and how to come to terms with it for me when I lost my mother (z"l). In fact, I return to it -- even though it is years after.
There are entire chapters which I have not read -- either because they were too painful, or not applicable to my personal situation. However, the portions which I did read, especially the chapters which dealt with the mother-daughter relationship and those which dealt with personal grief and mourning vis-a-vis clinical psychology were more beneficial than words can express.
As a mother, it is my most profound wish that this book was not necessary, and that all children had the benefit of the normal life's expectancy with their parents. As a daughter whose relationship with her own mother was prematurely severed, I am profoundly grateful for its existence!
B'sorot tovot.
At 9:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 10:16 PM,
Mrs. Balabusta said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 11:14 AM,
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 11:40 AM,
Mrs. Balabusta said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 10:41 PM,
Anonymous said…
Coming out of Maariv this evening in Elizabeth, I ran into Shmuel Rennert. I had not seen him in probably thirty years and I was amazed how composed and serene he was less than two weeks after the most horrible of tragedies. May Hashem give him and the entire family the strength to keep going and unify their beautiful family.
At 3:11 AM,
A Friend said…
Mrs. Balabusta, your blog came up #1 when I did a search on google for "debbie rennert". Your moving account is one of hundreds which depicts the incredible repercussions of this horrific tragedy. We have created a website and fund called Keren Devorah Fund to help the Rennert family to recover some semblance of normalcy. It would be of great assistance in generating traffic and potential donors if your blog would include a direct reference to the website. If possible, and if you do not mind, could you update your original blog to make a prominent link (preferably towards the top) to http://www.kerendevorah.org ?
Thank you, and may we only have simchos,
-Reaching Out to Make a Difference
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