So long my friend

Today was everything I expected and more.

Tears...  laughter.... love and friendship.

Brenda and I attended the Celebration of Life for Captain Barry Morris, my mentor.

I've been dreading this afternoon for weeks.  I'm the type of person that wears his heart on his sleeve and never have gotten through funerals, deaths or other emotionally charged life events without shedding tears at the drop of a hat.  Today was no different in that regard.

What was different however was the realization that as well as I thought I knew Barry, I only knew a very small part of his life.  From every one of the people who spoke at his Celebration today, we all probably learned something new we didn't know about him before.  Some of it familiar, some of it surprising, most of it smile invoking.  For that I am extremely thankful.

One thing that was obvious is that he lived an incredibly diverse life.  His flying career took him all over the globe where he rubbed shoulders and broke bread with heads of state, celebrities and industry leaders.  He was a bush pilot, test pilot and salesman to name a few.  He shared his enthusiasm for life and all it has to offer with anyone he met.  Carpe diem in every sense of the word.

If I tried to relay even some of the stories he shared with me over breakfast or lunches at the airport, I wouldn't do them justice.  I could never hope to capture the essence in the same way he could tell it, so I won't attempt to try.

In the last couple of years he was working on a trilogy of his memoirs that sadly he will never get a chance to complete.  His wonderful wife Linda has taken up the charge to complete them with the help of some of his former co-workers and friends.  I hope one day to read them.  There is so much more I want to learn from this man.

When we worked together on the airport committee there were many times I got discouraged.  He had a way of seeing the "runway through the fog" and always insisted I run with my ideas "full throttle".

I promise to do just that Barry.  You are cleared direct my friend.