Thread Drift

[Amira]

You know, I think I'm going to tell my DH that if he outlives me that I want a portion of my ashes going to anyone who will do something cool with them. I'd love to have a bit of me left in all sorts of places--places I already love and maybe places I've never been, but would have loved.

Personally, I can't imagine doing anything else. Two different big groups of friends got together - and both groups (one in Idaho and one at Northstar at Tahoe) met at the top of the mountain for the last run of the last day of the season, talked about him, scattered his ashes and then all skied/boarded down and went out to toast him and tell stories. It dumped snow on both groups. I think he was definitely there in spirit.

I think I freaked out a poor sales clerk at the container store though. I bought probably 30 or so 4 oz. travel containers, all the same size, to send out the ashes. I guess I bought so many of them she was curious and asked me what I was going to do with them. So, I figured....well, she asked....and I told her. Not the answer she was expecting.

Even some of my friends who didn't even know my brother volunteered to take him places - that's how he got to Mt. Kilimanjaro, which I think he would have totally dug. My friend and his partner took him to the summit and videotaped it and sent it to me. So cool. Then, when they got back to base camp later, they toasted him with beers.

Finding someone I knew that was taking a scout troop to Philmont this summer was totally serendipity, but my brother loved his time at Philmont as a kid and it had a huge influence on him, so that was perfect.

He still needs to go surfing in Hawaii, though. I think I need to be the one to take him there.

Found two pictures - the color one is from Mt. Hood last summer with a bunch of his friends. We were at the top of the terrain park at Mt. Hood Summer Ski Camp. They also renamed the terrain park for him (he designed it and built most of it and was the longtime head snowboard coach there in summer). Coming from Texas, it was so mind-blowingly cool to be skiing in JUNE! The b/w one is from our private family event last July in Vail. This is about 100 yards or so down from the Gondola in an out of bounds (so appropriate for him) area, but one that my then 86-year old dad could get to. I will say the one thing we learned in Vail was be careful which way the wind is blowing when you are releasing ashes. Oops.