The Best Man I’ve Ever Known

Leaving Catalina Island at sunrise

I’ve lost my husband, my best friend, my playmate, my travel partner…my… well, my everything.

I can’t begin to describe the loss of the love of my life, but I have some comfort in knowing that we were mad for each other – we loved, adored, and cared for each other from the very first week we met.

I Have a Boat…

Banff ski club party

Banff ski club party, the night after we met

“I have a boat” those were just about the first words Steve said to me. We were on a ski club trip and heading from the Calgary airport to Banff, and he was listening in on my chitchat with my girlfriend about a guy I dated who had a sailboat. Steve loved to say that without that boat, we’d never have gotten together. I don’t know about that, because if it wasn’t love at first sight for us, it was the closest you can get to it.

The next day on our first ski lift ride up the mountain we talked about what we wanted in a relationship and by the end of the week we were inseparable.

I’ll never forget that kiss out in the middle of frozen Lake Louise and just about melting a hole right through that ice.

Frozen Lake Louise

Frozen Lake Louise

If you ever want a sure fire recipe for romance, head up to Lake Louise and Banff Hot Springs in the snow!

Love from the beginning

Our love affair started in Banff, and it never ended

When we got back, we had to break into his house…that was a little suspicious (was this really his house?)

But the next day I met Jim and Roger who were staying there, and I found out that he really did have a sailboat, and a beautiful one at that!

Newport Harbor

Mike, me, Roger, and Jim at Newport Harbor for sailing on Steve’s boat

We made a lot of wonderful memories for the 30 years we had that boat.

A couple of months after we met, I took Steve up to the Sacramento Jazz Festival to meet mama and dad.

Dad told me he liked him – he’s never said that about a guy I dated before! – and I said “Good, because that’s the man I’m going to marry!”

Stephen and I at Sacramento Jazz

At the Sacramento Jazz Festival to meet mama and dad

Yep, I knew.

It took four more years – but we did the deed in one of our favorite happy places – Catalina Island – and we honeymooned on our boat.

Stephen and I getting married

Getting married

We did everything together! We worked together, played together and traveled all over together.

Vision Expo East in 1991

Selling the new product OfficeMate at Vision Expo East

We had wonderful adventures together.

At every anniversary, and countless times in between, I always told him that he was the best man I’ve ever known and these years were the happiest years of my life.

Stephen Rosenbaum

Stephen Rosenbaum, (69 years old) died on June 30, 2018 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Steve was an inspiration in the way he tackled his illness, aggressively fighting with a sense of purpose the same we he did anything – with passion, drive and determination.

Mostar

Dinner on the stone terrace at Konobo Taurus in Mostar

An MBA and a CPA, Stephen was an entrepreneur, creative thinker, and risk taker who started and sold several successful businesses. He was the founder of OfficeMate Software, Inc. and was the chief designer, technology officer and product manager of the OfficeMate® Software system from 1981 to 1997.

For years, Stephen provided his expertise in EyeCare software systems as a consultant to OfficeMate®. His contributions as a subject matter expert were working with the design, development, quality assurance and support teams, providing training and technical support for clients, as well as designing and writing specifications for many of the financial areas of the software.

He was a trusted CEO who led other developing businesses on to success. He traveled extensively, read widely, and enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life, making him a spirited conversationalist as a man knowledgeable in all the issues of our time. Stephen retired at an early age but wasn’t done with work and started eyeReports, another small business that he loved, still creating and working up until the last weeks.

Stephen will be remembered as a man of many loves. He loved life and lived it to the fullest. He loved his work. He loved to travel with Rebecca, his wife of 30 years. He loved the outdoors, nature and sailing on his boat, and he loved playing softball. Most importantly he loved his family.

He is survived by the love of his life and dear wife Rebecca [Snyder]; his two sons Eric and Bryan, his sister Marci and her husband Ed Buffington, who was his friend and business partner, and their children Scott and Brandi [Goldsberry], Chad, Brett and Emily [Crick], Katie and Austin Hughes, and the little ones, his great nieces and nephews Ellie, Sam, Wyatt, and Kelly.

He was a loved and true friend, nothing will ease the pain of losing Stephen at such an early age.

May his memory be a blessing to all of us.

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14 Comments

    1. Rebecca

      Thanks for your beautiful comment Dhara, I just couldn’t do anything on Instagram these terrible weeks, it’s too painful. I know time, lots of time, will make the devastation of his loss better.

  1. Amo

    Hello Rebecca, I can’t even imagine how devasted you must be feeling by this unbearable loss. Stephen and you have created so many memories all through the years, wonderful ones at that, and I am sure there is no end to the love you both have shared. I pray to the universe to give you the strength you need. You are in my thoughts. Sending you love.

    – Amo
    (Findinghues)

    1. Rebecca

      Oh Amo, thank you for your beautiful comment. I despair of losing him, which is still so unbelievable to me, but eventually the wonderful memories of our 30 years together will help get me through. I hope the universe answers your prayer. Thank you dear.

  2. Evelyn

    oh no Rebecca, I just read about your loss and I’m writing this with tears in my eyes. What a great love story you and Steve have and I’m so sorry that he had to go so early. You must feel so terrible now and I hope time will help you a bit and that you still can travel through your life with such good memories. Quite a lot of us, live with partners they don’t even know properly, but you and Steve had so much love tp gibe each other and you made so many wonderful memories, that is such a gift.
    My thought are with you my dear Rebecca
    warm greetings
    Evelyn

    1. Rebecca

      Thank you dear Evelyn, for the heartfelt sympathy and beautiful comment. We had such a special relationship and I was so lucky to have him in my life. You are right, the wonderful memories will be a gift when I get through this desolation.

  3. Lanainwanderlust

    Hi Rebecca,
    I struggled to get through this without crying.
    What a beautiful love story you had with Steve.
    Some people will live their entire lives and never experience even a snippet of the love you shared.
    How lucky you both were to have found each other.
    Praying for strength for you during this incredibly difficult time and. The wonderful memories that you made will always remain and now you have an angel watching out for you every step of the way.

    Sending you nothing but love and positivity all the way from Australia
    Your friend
    Lana xxx

    1. Rebecca

      Oh dear Lana, thanks for your beautiful comment, love and positivity. You are right, we had something so special together and we had it for a very long time. When Steve and I would hear comments about relationships taking work, we really couldn’t understand that – our relationship was easy, we never had to work at it. We were a unit and it’s incredibly hard to be just one now. But I know that eventually I’ll adjust to this new reality, this big emptiness in my life. It’s just going to take time, lots of time.

  4. Welltravbrit

    Dear Rebecca,
    I’m so moved by your post and how beautifully you honored and reflected your husband and your relationship. I missed you over on IG and was so sorry to read about Steve’s passing. Wishing you strength and healing. I hope the love you shared will be present even in his absence and that you’ll feel it always.
    Angela/welltravbrit

    1. Rebecca

      Thanks for your beautiful comment dear Angela, it’s unimaginably hard to be without him and I just haven’t had the heart to play on IG like I did when he was alive. Someday I’ll be able to be on there again, but now it only reminds me of all the wonderful times we had together, me playing with photos and IG while he read Flipboard or relaxed wherever we were staying. We had it all, and I know I was lucky we had it for so long. I carry him with me in my heart always.

    1. Rebecca

      Thanks for your sympathy and heartfelt wishes Frank. We had it all, and being on my own after those wonderful 30 years is terrible. Spending time with family and friends are great distractions, then it’s back to my unreal new reality. Some day the pain of his loss will fade, but it’s not going to be soon that’s for sure.

  5. Jeanette Johnson

    Oh Rebecca, I went on your Facebook page to discover more about my new cousin! It sounds like you and Stephen had such a fairytale relationship and life! This journey you are making right now is a brave, but bittersweet venture onward as you press on to discover the new path of your life with the love of life in your sweet memories, but not by your side. I admire your adventurous spirit, Rebecca. Having beem married almost 31 years myself, my heart is touched by the sadness of your recent loss and thoughts of how difficult navigating your new new life journey must be most days. I am truly sorry for your loss. Stephen’s loss must be felt profoundly by everyone who loved him.

    1. Rebecca

      Thanks so much for your beautiful comments dear cousin Jeanette. We had an amazing life together and I can’t begin to describe how devastating it is to be without him. Being with family and friends and having other distractions helps me move forward and not be paralyzed by the despair of his loss. It’s still so unbelievable to me, but I know with time it will be better. A lot of time.

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