Category: Remembrances

My Letter to Riki

September 27, 2025 

Dear Riki, 

As we draw near the 10th year of your passing, I want to tell you how we’re doing, because I remember that you called me every day to check on me. I know that you check on your children every day, too, even now. Today would have been your 44th birthday. 

First of all, we miss you so deeply.  We remember your sense of humor, your devotion to your three babies, your talents in the kitchen, your ability to draw people to you, your friendliness to everyone you met, your high vibrations, and your empathy toward others.   

Your children are doing well.  Korbin is moving up the ladder at Walmart, and he continues to cook at Coyotes, because that’s where his friends work.  He loves cars, and he plays in Pokémon tournaments. Shawn is a wonderful daddy to his little girl, Nova.  He is thriving at work as an HVAC expert, and he’s supervising a crew, too. He is going through a rough patch, and he tells me every time we talk, that he misses you dearly, and he wishes you were here to give him advice. Nova is thriving and seems to be a happy little girl. 

Sam is in school and doing well. Her lowest grade is an A-. She is a wonderful mother to the happiest little boy I’ve ever met.  His name is Finn.   

I know you’d be the best grandmother for these babies.  Finn loves to talk to the big portrait I have of you in my living room.  He senses that you are his grandmother and that you are special. 

As you know, we went through some terrible times last year, but we came through it, because we are strong.  All of my GC friends were there to support us during the whole time. Your children have your strength. I see you in them every day.  They learned how to be strong from you, and that is what has carried them through the tragedy of losing you, of watching their own daddy struggle with addictions, and through having a “grandpa” who only hurt them all with his deceit and selfishness.  Oh, how I wish you were here to ease their pain.  Please go to them in their dreams.  That would help a great deal. 

I know your friends miss you desperately, too! They continue to celebrate your birthday, and none of the Village misses your children’s big events, like graduations, birthdays, births, and the like.  I still have some of your recorded voice, so I listen to that every now and again.  I continue to ask why a wonderful young mother would be taken from her children in at the prime of her life and at the serious developmental stages of her children?  You were the heart and soul of your family and of your friend group, the Village.  That’s why they called you, “Mama Bear.”   

Your Brother will likely light a fire in your memory tonight.  The children and I will go out to dinner and reflect on your legacy.   

Finally, I think of you every day.  I ask for your guidance of your children. I love you, dearly, Riki, and I hope you are resting in Power! 

Love Mom. 

Remembering Riki Lee Warner

Today would have been Riki Lee Warner’s 43rd birthday.  We, her family and other loved ones, continue to ask, “Why?” Why would this lovely young mother of three beautiful children, loving wife to Jonathan, best friend to “The Village,” sister, daughter, aunt, niece, and creative soul be taken from this earthly existence? Fortunately, we have our beautiful memories and photos that illustrate her never-ending smile.

 

Often when I think of Riki, I think of the talents that were silenced in her death. Nearly eight years ago, we embraced her before she drew her final breath.  Never should a parent bid farewell to her child this way. 

Today, Riki would be a grandmother.  She would be thrilled to hold those babies in her arms.  She would have made an excellent grandmother, as she was a loving mother.  Her children were 7, 11, and 13 at the time of her passing.  They continue to thrive as young adults, and I observe that they demonstrate the values taught to them by their mother, especially when it comes to resourcefulness, problem-solving skills, humor, and curiosity.  

  

Riki loved to create in the kitchen.  Some of her specialties were chicken with homemade noodles, homemade bread, “Build your own” taco bar, and other specialties loved by her children.  Riki was director of nutrition for a school district, and she won a new recipe competition to add to the school lunch menus across the state, where she lived.  Her recipe was chicken bacon ranch pizza. She took her then six-year-old daughter, SLW, to be her sous chef in the competition.  I am confident that they made the best partners in this competition.

 

Riki was loved by her friends, who continue to celebrate her birthday.  Now, we will celebrate this evening in a gathering promulgated by her, now, 16 years old daughter.  Last year for Riki’s birthday, one of her friends, since middle school, reached out to me with a beautifully written memory. Joey closed by thanking me for “bringing this beautiful soul into this world.”  Though Riki had been out of high school for 15 years, many of her teachers and school administrators reached out with beautiful memories and condolences after her passing.  She made an impact in the many spaces and with the many people she encountered.  She did not pass judgement and was kind to everyone.   

 

Riki and Johnny were best friends in 6th grade, a popular couple in middle school, and they tied the knot in 2003 when they were in their early 20s. They had three beautiful children who miss their mother dearly. Her brother, Stevie, who usually has his own birthday remembrance for this sister, will join us this evening, too.

 

We love and miss you, Riki.

Thank you for reading my blog.