Embracing Life and surviving Russ Williams

Elizabeth (Libby) Williams needs your help, support and generosity.

For those who don’t know Libby or Russ, hopefully, I can share a small glimpse into these wonderful, loving people!

I never needed a second set of parental figures in my life. My mother, Linda Hirschman, was more than enough! However, Libby and Russ became my “chosen” parents and friends very quickly.

But here we are almost 20 years later after Russell (Russ) Williams entered my life. To describe Russ for you, his skin and hair were as white as snow, earning him the nicknames “Whitey” or “Santa”! While I loved calling him “Whitey” he was much closer to a Santa. Aside from his 6’ height and well-fed stature, he had a giving heart with an infectious smile and laugh. He’d give you the shirt off his back if you needed it! I always discouraged this as I didn’t want to get blinded by the pasty sun reflector, he called a body. Russ would always laugh with me, knowing I meant it with love. Who knew this man would end up being the officiator of my own wedding many years later!

THE BEGINNING

When Russ and I first met, I was a Server Hardware Administrator (don’t ask me to explain) and Russ was selling DSL for a San Diego based Web Hosting Company. Web Hosting companies draw in a whole host of characters where he met, among MANY others, Stephanie Krause. Ironically at another Web Hosting Company! Messing with Russ was a favorite pastime for us, mainly because he took it so well.

We all worked for a woman, originally from Bulgaria and her CEO husband. Stephanie would call Russ, pretending to be her, complete with a fake Bulgarian accent to tell him he was needed in her office. This was the equivalent of being called to the principal’s office. To further the torture, she would call him to say the hosting servers were down, causing sheer panic, knowing full well they were up and running. Anytime Russ would see Stephanie, he’d smile because he knew immediately, she was going to say something that would make him laugh. HIS favorite pastime.

He was a fellow geek, Army veteran and cook who later attracted another force of nature into our lives in the most unlikely of ways.

NEW LOVE AND RENEWED LIFE

Elizabeth Hull, now, “Libby” Williams was living her life in the rural outskirts of New Hampshire. Surrounded by friends and family she loved helping people and children. She even ran her own daycare for a while prior to meeting Russ. She wasn’t big into computers but was encouraged by her sons, Scott and Rob to try out a new online game called Everquest. This game was played entirely online with other real people, which was a relatively new concept as the internet was quite young.

The concept was that you had to pick a race, a class and server where the character you created would be permanently attached to. The servers were huge, with hundreds to thousands of players associated with them. I never believed it fate, but I do get the occasional challenge such as this one where two people, from different sides of the country happen to pick the same race, server and meet accidently in a virtual world. Libby did make it easy though as she left many of her characters corpses on the ground almost as if to lead Russ to her. Their friendship blossomed into a relationship. While I was constantly getting Libby into trouble cracking jokes, causing her to lose focus, they were making plans to meet in person.

Surviving an abusive past relationship which fed into her agoraphobia, this was Libby’s Mt. Everest. I encourage you to get to know Libby! She had to muster up enough strength, faith and tenacity to get her deeply rooted self on a plane to San Diego to meet the love of her life. She’ll probably kill me for describing her this way, but Libby is a kind, intelligent, loving woman, mired with a meek persona and an undeserved lack of self-confidence.

Getting on that plane, uprooting her life, leaving her family to start a new life on the west coast while facing adversities given to her by her past, was the defining moment she proved she’s MUCH stronger than she thinks. Russ continued to support and foster this strength throughout their marriage, which makes the loss so much greater.

WHAT'S NEXT

Russ passed on November 14th, 2022, due to complications related to pneumonia and asthma. He was in the ICU for 8+ days. He was a proud man with no desire to be on life support and believed his body could be of more use to others, if it ever failed him.

Respecting that wish Russ’s corneas were given to a 37-year-old woman, from Arizona, and another from Egypt who can now see because of his gift. His bone and skin tissue have helped 20 people in need. His bone marrow is helping people with sickle cell, leukemia and lymphoma. Even after death, he’s still giving the shirt off his back.

Libby, now 71, is on her own journey to find herself again in a life without Russ. She has been completely dependent on him and now needs to build her own footing. Without an active source of income, we’re attempting to get Libby’s core bills squared away prior to her meeting back up with her family in New Hampshire. Her brother, Rod Hull as graciously offered to take her in and provide a safe place for her during this major life change.

Your donations will go towards the following goals:

$3,000 Medical Bills related to Russ’s stay in the ICU

$4,700 in back rent due before she leaves

$1,000 in moving expenses for travel and special items she’ll bring with her

Thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about Russ and Libby’s story. Even if you don’t donate, I hope this was in some way beneficial for you to read and learn about the unexpected impact of others on our lives.