There is something almost impossible to explain about seeing the face of someone you love on a billboard after they are gone.

To everyone passing it on the highway, they saw Crystal McCrory Jones. They saw a name, a face, and a call for answers.

I saw my big sister.

I saw the woman who was ten years older than me, who was part sister, part second mom, and always my best friend. I saw the aunt my girls adored. I saw the person who existed long before her name became associated with an investigation, news stories, podcasts, social media posts, or true crime.

That is why the song I Get to Love You by Ruelle felt so fitting for this video.

Because underneath everything that has happened since February 9, 2023, there is one truth that no investigation, report, ruling, or passage of time can ever change:

I got to love her.

I got to be Crystal’s little sister. I got decades of memories, laughter, arguments, ridiculous conversations, ordinary days, and a relationship that death cannot erase.

The billboard represented the fight for answers. But to me, seeing her face there represented something even bigger.

Before I ever had to fight for Crystal, I got to love Crystal.

And I will spend the rest of my life making sure the world remembers there was a whole person behind the name.