Goodbye to Rachel Reid

We all know that people die every day – and though we’ve all seen it, experienced it, gone through it, it’s important to remember that everybody is someone to somebody.

Well, Rachel Reid is someone to me.

She was my friend, a surrogate mom, and one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever had the honor and privilege to know.

As I sit here, drinking the peach tea Rachel gave me, from the mug Rachel gave my daughter, I’m trying to reflect, come up with words to express how I’m feeling right now. It’s hard.

This isn’t the first time I’ve lost someone I loved – heck, loss is why I even wrote War of the Seasons, The Human, to begin with.

But that doesn’t make it any easier.

I first met Rachel and Ron following my 2nd deployment to Iraq in 2008 (and my husband’s deployment to Afghanistan, at the same time). I wanted to take my husband (also named Ron) to some place special for our 7th anniversary, and I knew that we would need a quiet/calm place to decompress for a bit. We’d always loved Western North Carolina, but the B&B we normally went to in Waynesville, had closed. We were referred to the Andon-Reid Inn by the old B&B owners, and were not disappointed.

On very first visit Rachel and Ron made us feel like we were family, that their home was our home, and we started visiting as often as we could after that.

The Andon-Reid Inn provided a haven, a safe place for us after Will died, and I wrote/plotted so much of War of the Seasons: the Human and The Half-blood there. In fact, my main character, Story, is from Waynesville, and small portion of The Half-blood takes place there.

Rachel and Ron nurtured us, and encouraged us to better ourselves. As personal trainers, they challenged Ron & I to run better, faster, and always provided ways for us to continue our marathon training even while on vacation. I credit them and their support for part of the reason we were able to set the personal records we both have on our race times.

Rachel loved my “fashion” sense, and it is in large part, due to her & her constant encouragement that I even have a fashion section on this blog. I will continue to make fashion posts, of course – she loved them.

We never spent Christmas anywhere outside of our own home (rule we have), but Rachel & Ron’s home was like our home. Our other home, and we’ve spent two Christmases & one Thanksgiving there. Our daughter spent her first Thanksgiving and Christmas with us (so our first family Thanksgiving & Christmas) at the Andon-Reid Inn. As we were leaving at Thanksgiving she begged to come back for Christmas, and I’m so glad we did.

I guess in all my ramblings, what I’m trying to say is, that while Rachel and Ron are very private people, and superficially it was a “business” arrangement (i.e., their home is a business, and we paid to stay there), it was so much more than that for us, and I think for them too (they surprised us last Christmas, with a brick in their drive with our names on it – stating, that we were family).

They are part of our family. They always will be. I don’t really know what to say or do right now other than to wish I could say goodbye to Rachel one last time. Actually, I wish she wasn’t gone.

I’m LDS (Mormon), so I believe that I’ll get to see Rachel (and everyone else I’ve lost) again, when I die, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing they weren’t gone, and that I could see them again, now.

I last saw Rachel in April, when my friends Caitlin & Conley came out and we had a “Girls Weekend” at the Inn. Rachel absolutely spoiled us rotten. We decided to have a historical tea party, and Rachel, ever the perfectionist, researched the proper sandwiches and cookies that were appropriate for the Regency era.

She always found ways to make every single one of her guests feel like they were at home, and were special. I can’t even enumerate them all. There’s a reason it was rated the #1 Bed and Breakfast in the entire country just a few short months ago.

And it wasn’t just Rachel, it’s also Ron. You can’t help but love and trust Ron.

I can’t even imagine what Ron must be going through right now. I know he’s focusing on is work, on the Inn, and the last thing he needs is a bunch of emails and phone calls from everyone right now, so I will post this not only to remember Rachel, but to tell Ron how much we love them both. It’ll be here waiting for whenever he’s ready to read it.

I encourage you, if you’ve never visited Waynesville, NC to do so. And of course, if you do, you must stay at the Andon-Reid Bed and Breakfast. I know we can’t wait to go back.

Love you Ron. Miss you Rachel.

Thank you for giving us a home away from home.

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From Caitlin: I was terribly saddened to hear the news of Rachel’s passing. I met Rachel earlier this year, when my friends and I had a girls’ weekend at the Andon-Reid. We wanted to have a historical tea party, and Rachel went out of her way to make it a special experience for us, even researching the types of food that would have been served in that time period. When she found out I didn’t like tea or coffee, she immediately pulled out a secret stash of homemade hot chocolate mix from the freezer and whipped up a huge mug for me. Even though we’d only just met, she made it feel like we’d known each other for years, like I was part of a great big extended family for those two brief days of our stay. Rachel was one of the good ones, and she will be sorely missed.

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From Jess: I found out today that a kind soul passed last month. I feel silly feeling this deeply about this, I honestly couldn’t have said I knew her, but she had a deep impact on me. Remember that nice little B&B I visited to visit Ron and Janine? The one I was always welcome in. Even if just for a visit. From the very first time I popped over, I was not only welcome to visit my friends, but I was made to feel at home. That homey feel was largely due to the innkeepers. It may sound odd, but even just stepping in the inn for a second, Ron and Rachel felt like ‘mom’ & ‘dad’.

Even though I didn’t stay I was welcomed to try whatever goody Rachel cooked… I don’t know. Even though I didn’t know her as a friend, like I said, she always just felt like ‘mom’. She was a kind soul that touched my life, even for that small amount of time I saw her. The world lost a truly beautiful person.

Rest in peace, Rachel.

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A few pictures from some of my favorite times spent at Andon-Reid over the past few years. You’ll notice Rachel & Ron are not really in any of them – they were always taking them, and the few times I managed to get one with them in it, they (especially Rachel) were always a blur (that should tell you something about them).

Breakfast on Christmas morning, 2011.