an amazing experience

This morning I had an amazing experience. My brother Cory's best friend Quinn passed away in an airplane crash 3 weeks ago. This morning my brother took his ashes up in his plane that they built and flew together and set him free amongst the clouds in the beautiful big blue sky.

My brother called me 3 days ago and told me the plan of spreading Quinn's ashes and asked if I would come and take pictures. Yesterday evening Jackson and I went out to airport #2 and took some test shots and Cory took a couple of test flights to iron out the kinks. It was a scorching 107 but it was well worth it. I don't have any pictures of my brother flying so I jumped at the chance remembering some thing Quinn's mom had said... At Quinn's memorial his mom said that she didn't have any pictures of Quinn flying and that the evening that he crashed they planned for him to fly over so that they could take some. Sadly, he never flew over and she never got the chance to take pictures of her beautiful boy in flight.

This morning at 7:45 I heard him coming for the west and saw his tiny plane approaching Quinn's parent home. Tears started streaming down my face as I thought of the pain my brother must be feeling saying his final goodbye to his best friend. He made his first pass over Quinn's home and I tried to get focused and wipe the tears from my eyes as I saw Quinn's family on the hillside looking toward the sky ready to say goodbye. I waved at my brother and at Quinn's family and tried to focus on the plane through my lens. As he made his final pass I saw the powder start to exit the tube as tears ran dwon my cheeks and my heart ached. He turned toward the west, Pilots who pass away are often referred to as "gone west" so his turn west was to honor Quinn and a aviation tradition. Then in the distance I saw him wave the wings of his plane saying his final goodbye to best friend. It was a very emotional experience and I was so honored to be part of it.

As I drove home Cory called to tell me that not all of Quinn's ashes escaped the tube and that he was going to release them over the site of his crash at airport #2. As I approached the airport I saw my brother circling in the distance and pulled over near the site. As he passed I saw the powder again escaping the tube with the beautiful mountains in the background and again tears began streaming down my face. Quinn will now forever be above the clouds where he loved to be and he will always be my brothers wingman and guardian angel.