Good morning, my name is Christine Joubert and I am Robert s mother.

Thank you for listening to me and hearing what I have to say about the suffering
we are all enduring. I hope that through my few words I can extend Robert s hand
s to you so that you can hold him and know him. It is important that you do, an
d that you also hear his voice and touch his heart. He is not here to speak for
himself.
When I was expecting Robert, I was so happy. It was such a good time in my life.
I wish I could relive those days again including the cravings for chocolate ba
rs in the middle of the night! It was not surprising to me that later on as a l
ittle boy Robert also loved chocolate!
While I did not know if I was going to have a boy or a
have a healthy and strong child who would grow up and
ng life. When Robert was born my husband and I looked
are it was you all along . My husband and I then knew
o be a good boy, and we would be loving parents. As a
that I would always be there to take care of him, and

girl, all I wanted was to

have a happy and fulfilli
at him and said there you
that Robert would grow up t
mom I knew and I believed
to protect my child.

The day that Robert died was the worst day of my life. It is a day that I keep
reliving over and over. That day was the worst nightmare my family could ever i
magine. It was such a tragic, incomprehensible and senseless loss of a human li
fe. No family should ever have to go through this. As a parent you never thin
k of losing a child. Our son should have lived well after we were gone. He sho
uld have met the woman of his dreams, married and had children. He should have
grown to a happy old age. He should have experienced life to the fullest. Inst
ead, while on his way to work, he was killed by a criminal.
When I carried Robert in my womb and he was so warm and close to my heart, I nev
er could have imagined that one day we would have to carry him to his cold grave
. On June 8, 2012, I was not there to protect my boy from a thoughtless man who
had no regard for the lives and safety of others. I was not there by the side
of a road to take care of Robert as he took his last breath. Although I am not
to blame, I feel so terribly guilty and I feel that I have failed him as a mothe
r.
I often talk to God and ask him why he allowed this to
nswer me. Maybe he does not have an answer. Maybe he
rhaps it will be up to Robert s killer to tell us, one
hope, that this man will have the courage to tell his
ime.

happen, but he does not a

is as confused as me. Pe
day we know, or at least we
own children about his cr

I am so sad and live with such pain that it hurts deeply. I am incapable of forg
iving God and Robert s killer. This is the kind of person that I have become. My
family has been ripped apart, and I am a woman and a mother who has been torn.
I feel so lost at times and I feel that I have lost my spirituality. This sudd
en and tragic loss of my precious Robert is emotional anguish.
Since his death I have been suffering from hives, and terrible anxiety and stoma
ch pains for which I take medication. But deep down I am suffering most from a
broken heart and for that there are no pills that I can take.
I experience a great deal of distress each time I drive
pass by the place where Robert s spirit left his body.
and have to pull over to the side of the road. I find
fterwards I feel so weak. But I must travel this route
and my mother in neighboring towns.

down Highway No.: 1 and

I often cry uncontrollably
it so debilitating and a
to visit my son Richard

This tragedy has greatly affected my work. I am a school custodian in St. Norbe

rt and I have a lot of time during the night shift to think about my boy when I
am cleaning the school. At times, I ve had to leave work in the middle of a shift
because I am so upset. On some occasions I am so preoccupied with losing Rober
t that I do not finish all of my work by the time my shift is over, and other ti
mes I leave the lights on, or important doors unlocked. My Supervisor has discu
ssed the situation with me, and even suggested that I take some time off work.
I cannot afford to take time off.
The Seasons remind me of Robert and what we have lost. He had such a passion fo
r life and he lived it to the fullest.
During the summer we liked boating, fishing, making bonfires and having barbeque
s. Robert loved wake boarding and water skiing, and he even managed to ski on o
ne ski!
Fall was the time of gathering and harvesting food for the winter. Robert would
help out in the garden and would till the soil after the harvest. He would mak
e sure the garden was ready for planting vegetables the following year. And the
n there was hunting. He could take down a deer on the first shot. If he misse
d, he would track the wounded deer through the forest and would not let it suffe
r. Robert never lost his bearings in the woods, even on a cloudy day.
We would always have fresh deer meat to mix in with our Christmas sausage. Robe
rt would make sure that we would follow Ppre Joubert s recipe. The sausages were alw
ays so delicious and Robert loved them so much. One time he woke up at 3:00 AM
with a craving and decided to have a snack. He took a package of frozen sausage
s and fried them up. Needless to say the aroma from the sausages wafted through
out the house and woke us all up. The whole family joined Robert for his snack.
Robert was proud of his Ojibway and Mtis heritage and he had a great respect for
the food we harvested in our garden and from the forest. I miss that so much abo
ut him. He was so caring, kind and loving, compassionate and respectful. He wa
s such a beautiful and precious gift.
For our family winter was a time for snowmobiling, some winter camping, the occa
sional snow ball fight, and best of all ice fishing. One time we were fishing at
Lockport near Sugar Hill and Robert had stepped away from his line because he h
ad to go the washroom. Just as he was making his way back his line started tugg
ing and it was obvious he had hooked a large fish. As he tried to reel in the f
ish, the hook broke but luckily the fish floated near the hole for a few moments
. Robert quickly grabbed it with his hands, and pulled it out of the freezing w
ater. Although it was not quite the way you normally reel in a fish, he ended u
p catching a 12 pound 9 ounce pickerel that was 34 inches long. He was so excit
ed and proud of himself. We had his prize mounted and it now hangs in the livin
g room.
Christmas is a very difficult time of the year for us because of the emptiness i
n the house. What makes it even harder for us is that we know it was a time of
year that meant so much to him. Robert always looked forward to being with his
grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.
For us the spring meant planting the garden and raising some animals. We raised
chickens and pigs. Robert was so eager to help out with feeding and watering t
hem along with his brother and little sister. I remember one time following a p
eriod of heavy rain he had to rescue a runt pig that was stuck in the muddy pen.
He could see the piglet was in distress at feeding time and it was having diff
iculty moving about. Robert hopped into the pen and got the little one out. We
then made a separate pen for piglet until it regained its strength. Robert was
covered in mud but you should have seen his smile!

Although spring is a time of growth and renewal it is a time of great sadness fo

r our family, for us it will always be a time of loss. Robert was taken away be
fore he could grow into his full potential.
Robert was a hard worker and had been working since he was 16 years old. A few
years ago, a friend of mine down the road had ordered 10 yards of gravel for her
long driveway. She hired Robert to spread the gravel by hand and he managed to
do this in only 1 days! Over the years, I ve had Robert s friends and bosses tell
me that he was strong as a bull. But I guess that being this strong was no matc
h for the drunk driver he was going to face the day he died. How do you protect
yourself from a drunk driver?
Robert loved to cook. One day he came home from school and announced his class
was having a potluck. He asked me if I could make bannock. I said
it is your p
otluck, you make it . I got him all of the ingredients and he put it together. A
t first Robert wanted me to mix the batter but I told him he had to do it and le
arn. Reluctantly he did so and baked the bannock. When he came home after the p
otluck he told me that everyone loved it. They said it was the best bannock the
y had ever tasted. And I said to Robert see and you made it my boy . He said mom i
t is your recipe . I then told him that it is everyone s recipe son-shine .
As I reach the end of my notes, all I can say is that the cold emptiness that I
feel is slowly killing me. Things are not what they used to be, missing one ins
ide of me, and I cannot stand the hell I feel. Nothing is real now but pain.
Sometimes I imagine that Robert is not dead, that he is only gone up North to wo
rk for a short period of time. One day soon he will come down to see me. But t
hey really need him up there right now because he is such a great worker. Also,
Robert wants to make a lot of money, or big bucks as he would say, so that he can
buy some land, a house, big boy toys and other things that a young man with a p
romising future would want.
See you soon my boy. Hurry back home. Love you to infinity and beyond.
Mom