Renee Roissier Miller

How was Thanksgiving at Mapleshade?

Our first Thanksgiving without Renee was hard. Renee LOVED holidays. She was a bundle of energy, singing and laughing while making sure the rest of us had a great day. Cooking and decorating the house were all things she excelled at. Her absence was very much felt by all.  Still, we wanted to celebrate the holiday and at least make the attempt to bring joy into our house and to acknowledge that despite the terrible loss our family still has much to be thankful for. A large number of people truly do care and family and friends have helped us bear the pain. As bad as things have been it could be much worse and we know it. A very good friend came up from Florida to help cook and put the house in order and all things considered we came through the holiday alright. The kids and I were not afraid to enjoy the day and celebrate some of what we have as opposed to only dwelling on what we lost.  Everyone ate well and there were many good laughs and festive moments to go with somber reflections.  I think Renee would have been pleased with the results.

Jackie made it back from college, fresh off his wrestling season-ending shoulder surgery and seems to be recuperating well. Opening a bottle and eating with one hand doesn’t appear to be much of a problem for him. He is expected to be back to 100% in time for next year. It was good to have him back and all nine kids together for the holiday.  Christmas may be a bit harder but we will certainly try to make the best of things.

What are your Christmas plans?

No change in location, we always celebrated Christmas at home and will continue to do so. We are planning a fairly low-key Christmas.  Renee handled all the shopping and decorating for our family so this task now falls to me and the older children.  We are going to do everything possible to see the younger children smiling on Christmas morning.  For about the last eight years we would go to a small Christmas Eve party at a friend’s home, a really eclectic group, and usually a good time.  Pretty much a tradition but I need to talk to the older children to see if this is something we will continue.  From my vantage point, Renee was always the life of this party and it could be a pretty tough night for us, but if the kids want to give it a try I will make the effort, too.  Christmas should be a time of happiness and I don’t want to be a deterrent to anyone’s enjoyment of the season, so I really don’t know what we will be doing on the 24th.  My sister Kristi is planning on coming down the day after Christmas to spend time with the kids and help out a bit and we look forward to seeing her.

Several people have expressed an interest in coming down for New Years. I know Renee’s sister Suzi and her family is planning on making the trek from Alaska to be with us as we ring in the New Year. I’ll write some time in January as to how it went and who showed up.

What is the status of the legal proceedings?

There won’t be much news to report about the upcoming trial or other legal matters until the status hearing in January. As of this minute a trial is scheduled to begin on February 17th but it will likely be postponed to some later date in the spring. We will update this site following the January 25th status hearing to reflect any new dates.  As reported and linked to here, an accomplice [Jonathan Brown] was arrested and remains in jail as I type this.  Additional charges to go with the accessory to murder after the fact are likely for this piece of filth and his status too will be updated in court on January 25th.  I am very happy this scumbag has finally found his way to a jail cell.  It is long overdue.  I believe that more charges are pending for Renee’s killer [Kenneth Erick Waldrop] to go with his first degree murder and kidnapping charges.  I will keep the website updated concerning the trial as I get the information, as I know several of you are planning to attend.

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to you & yours

-jamie