When Jesse Palmer walked Linda the No Drama Llama down the driveway of the Bachelor Mansion at the end of The Bachelor‘s Season 29 premiere, spirits were sky-high. Before the first episode of Grant Ellis’ journey concluded, however, my eyes filled with tears at the sight of an unexpected tribute card that read, “In Loving Memory of Corine Frank Russell – 1941-2024.” Nooooo!

Who is Corine Frank Russell? She’s Ellis’ late grandmother, who made a memorable appearance earlier in the episode during the leading man’s intro video.

Ahead of his RTM (Return To Mansion), Ellis went to visit his family and made sure to take his grandmother aside for some quality one-on-one time. He held her hand and in a precious twist, gave her his real first impression rose, saying, “This is the first rose that I’m ever gonna hand out. It signifies my love for you and how much I love you as my grandma. And you’ll always be my first impression rose.”

Corine, with her iconic pink glitter nails, accepted the rose and the two adorably shared their love for one other. Sadly, in November 2024 — shortly before Ellis’ season of The Bachelor aired — Corine passed away at age 82.

“My grandmother was the rock in my family, and she taught me a lot,” Ellis told Decider in a Zoom interview ahead of his premiere. “She really influenced my faith and she taught me a lot about love and what it means to be in a long, lasting relationship. And she gave me my mom, so that was really, really important.”

Per her obituary, Corine was born on November 27, 1941, in Kinder, Louisiana, and is survived by her husband, Clarence Russell, along with her children Effie Owens and Renee Taylor, along with grandchildren including Ellis, who intends to keep her light alive.

“She’s a direct connection of me. And so she’ll always live through me,” the Season 29 lead told Decider.

New episodes of The Bachelor premiere Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.