Final Flight

To the man who bribed me down the ski slopes with garlic fries and taught me the importance of living life to its absolute fullest and so much more…

My mom once told me, it is not dying people are scared of; it’s the fear of not living. My Grandpa Buzz had more lives than a cat, and each one was pursued at full throttle. I have never seen anyone work hard to play harder than him, and I met him when he was 65.

He raised a family of calculated risk-takers. He taught me that risk is an essential part of growth and progress, but to always make sure to run through your checklist first before jumping in the cockpit. Although he had a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering, so my risk calculations have a greater margin of error than his.

I have never once heard him complain, even when Parkinsons forced him to slow down. He was an avid water and snow skier, fly fisherman, hunter, and pilot. He still pushed his body to the limits till the very end… examples to prove it:

• Emergency-landing a plane on an active highway when he was supposed to have already hung up his wings

• Brought an oxygen tank to Mammoth so he could meet us in the lodge while we skied from open to close.

• Going for a swim in the ocean resulting in Jackie and Jeffery having to make a rescue mission

I would like to think he tested us to see if we could channel his “no complaints” mindset as the day of this his celebration of life broke the Palm Springs October temperature record of 113 and we were in a no AC airplane hanger.

I hope you are up there, unable to get to the punchline of your own jokes because you are laughing so hard that tears are streaming down your face. I hope you are surrounded by clear skies and Labrador retrievers. I will continue your search for powder days, alpine lakes and the occasional nude beach.

Into the Wild Blue Yonder,
Erin