Oh God
Just learned that Sis's godfather died this past weekend. He was piloting a private plane when it crashed over the lakes in Central Texas. We don't know many details. I'm just stunned. When Sis told me this morning, my knees kind of gave out and I slid down the kitchen cabinets to the floor.
My cousin, Tyler, died on July 1, 2004. He died in a horribly tragic way, and getting a phone call that morning telling me the news shook my life up completely. It's the exact same feelings of life flipping upside down in a second today.
Her godfather was just as kind and thoughtful to me as he was to Sis. He basically felt like I was his goddaughter, too. And, because Dad was such a loser, he was the one who vowed to threaten future boyfriends with shotguns if necessary.
He was an amazing pilot, having flown F-4 Phantoms in Vietnam. The details are sketchy right now, but they think he had mechanical trouble. I can't imagine that it was something he did wrong. The reason we only learned of this today is that they weren't sure that he was dead until this morning, when they recovered his remains.
I'm just... I don't know what I am.
I think God is working in His ways, since it seems like the launch of Atlantis is going to be scrubbed on Friday due to weather. I was going to skip therapy this week so I could watch the last launch. Monica was going to cancel my appointment yesterday. She didn't do it yet, and I'm seriously glad she hasn't, since I'm definitely going to need to see her to process this.
There's a memorial service at Camp Mabry (one of the homes of the Texas National Guard) in Austin on Saturday. I will not be going, though Sis - and possibly Mom - will be. Dad and the SheBeast will more than likely be there, and I just won't be able to deal with that. Sis told me to go ahead and drive up to Conroe to hang out with my good friend at her barbecue on Saturday. She said that he'd want me to go eat good food and have a beer for him. I will then do just that.
He was an amazing man. A whip smart guy, a dedicated eye surgeon, and the most wonderful, thoughtful, protective godfather one could want. I was blessed to have him in my life.
ETA: I just learned a few things. One, he was flying a plane he built, with the guy he built it with. He was actually leaving from an airport on the coast, and crashed in Matagorda Bay, which is about an hour away from here. Finally, some witnesses are reporting hearing the engine sputtering before the crash. They've recovered part of the fuselage. Divers found the passenger's body in the bay yesterday, but the news hasn't reported about Sis's godfather yet. However, from what I understand, his body was found, but the news media just doesn't know it yet. It's super-surreal to read a news report about him being missing/dead. I'm still rather numb.
My cousin, Tyler, died on July 1, 2004. He died in a horribly tragic way, and getting a phone call that morning telling me the news shook my life up completely. It's the exact same feelings of life flipping upside down in a second today.
Her godfather was just as kind and thoughtful to me as he was to Sis. He basically felt like I was his goddaughter, too. And, because Dad was such a loser, he was the one who vowed to threaten future boyfriends with shotguns if necessary.
He was an amazing pilot, having flown F-4 Phantoms in Vietnam. The details are sketchy right now, but they think he had mechanical trouble. I can't imagine that it was something he did wrong. The reason we only learned of this today is that they weren't sure that he was dead until this morning, when they recovered his remains.
I'm just... I don't know what I am.
I think God is working in His ways, since it seems like the launch of Atlantis is going to be scrubbed on Friday due to weather. I was going to skip therapy this week so I could watch the last launch. Monica was going to cancel my appointment yesterday. She didn't do it yet, and I'm seriously glad she hasn't, since I'm definitely going to need to see her to process this.
There's a memorial service at Camp Mabry (one of the homes of the Texas National Guard) in Austin on Saturday. I will not be going, though Sis - and possibly Mom - will be. Dad and the SheBeast will more than likely be there, and I just won't be able to deal with that. Sis told me to go ahead and drive up to Conroe to hang out with my good friend at her barbecue on Saturday. She said that he'd want me to go eat good food and have a beer for him. I will then do just that.
He was an amazing man. A whip smart guy, a dedicated eye surgeon, and the most wonderful, thoughtful, protective godfather one could want. I was blessed to have him in my life.
ETA: I just learned a few things. One, he was flying a plane he built, with the guy he built it with. He was actually leaving from an airport on the coast, and crashed in Matagorda Bay, which is about an hour away from here. Finally, some witnesses are reporting hearing the engine sputtering before the crash. They've recovered part of the fuselage. Divers found the passenger's body in the bay yesterday, but the news hasn't reported about Sis's godfather yet. However, from what I understand, his body was found, but the news media just doesn't know it yet. It's super-surreal to read a news report about him being missing/dead. I'm still rather numb.