UNION CITY, Ind. — Randi Rose began participating in the Survivors of Unspeakable Loss (SOUL) Walks last year.
She walks in memory of her father, Jeff Rose Jr., who died at the age of 56 in 2012 of cancer following a nine-month illness.
“I miss him especially on days like this because he was always off on his bike going somewhere,” said Rose, who was just getting ready to sit down at the picnic table to eat her lunch this past Sunday in Harter Park prior to the walk. “He would go fishing or do something else. He was very active and outgoing.”
She said her father and mother, Ruby, were married 36 years when he passed. She is the youngest child in the family.
“I like to do this walk to remember Dad,” she said. “My brother and I also do the Randolph County Cancer Awareness Walk around the Union City Community High School track.”
She also keeps active with church and school events, and offers her sign language skills whenever she can.
Rose has worked at the Jay/Randolph Developmental Services in Winchester, Indiana, for the past 15 years.
She still lives with her mother, who is unable to participate in the walks.
“I didn’t come to the walk in 2013 because I had something else planned, but I started last year and now I”m doing it this year,” she said.