Picture here.

Thoughts in advance: I must say I'm not great at going to memorials. For one thing, I hate going into churches. I don't like the fact that someone died which brings about memorial. It seems to be such a shame that the person of honor is not here to hear how much his friends appreciated him.

In this case, I do like that fact that there will be a lot of folks that I know and appreciate to see and mingle with a bit (I'm not much of a social butterfly).

I don't like the social obligation part of memorials, that one is expected by social convention to show up. In this case I'm very happy to be able to appear, but I hold nothing against those folks who didn't want to travel half way across the country to join in. I'm quite sure that they also have great memories of Rob, wish to provide solace in a time of grief, and are as deeply moved by his life and untimely death as I am.

I don't like the fact that the people most in need of time to grieve, the people with the most feelings exposed and raw are the very ones who often (maybe not in this case) have to do the heavy lifting of putting on a memorial service. It seems so unfair.

None the less, in spite of these feelings, Belinda and I are very happy to be able to attend Rob's memorial and the fly-in and Andy Jackson Flight Park. Thanks to those who have made it possible. I'll be updating this entry throughout the weekend.

Later on Friday: Left Jackson at 7:30 AM on a flight to Denver. It was 32 degrees when I got up at 5:30 AM and it was great to see the sun rise and show off the Tetons that are next to the airport.

When I arrived at 1 PM in San Diego it was 82 degrees. Cooler to the north by the ocean at Encinitas. Tomorrow we head for the memorial.

Saturday night: Rob's memorial started for us at 10 AM this morning as we (Brad and Donita Hall, Belinda and I) pulled into an office/industrial park in Yorba Linda (Richard Nixon's old home town). Back behind the low slung big box office buildings was a church, which sort of made sense in a Southern California sort of way. There is lots of parking for all the parishioners that drive from their suburban homes on the freeway to the Sunday service at the Rock Community Church.  These big box churches disrupt neighborhoods when they locate there as the neighbors don't like all the overflow parking.

We first ran into Mark Tulloch from Vancouver, and we were a little early so we go to see more folks arrived , including JZ and Amy, Reggie, Jim and Kathie Lee, Chris Arai, Bernie, Brett, Vincene, Joe Bostik, the two Jeff's, Zac Majors, and many others. Lots of folks showed up.

There was a very traditional memorial service for Rob with his friends and family relating their experiences with Rob and many of them brought a tear or two to my eyes. I was especially moved by Mike Meier's comments which offered something of a counter point to some later comments.

There was an aspect of the service that did not sit well with this atheist. It was taking place in a church after all, and somehow it turned into an opportunity to proselytize. Talk about fishing in barren water, farming in rocky soil. Hang glider pilots are an irreverent bunch and a few walked out at the point when the desire to save us through Jesus Christ really became a bit too much.

 Of course this was all a distraction from our focus of grieving for and celebrating the life of our friend Rob Kells. What really put it over the top for me was the pastor's claim that death is gain. That Rob gained by death was just unreal. I'm quite sure that Rob didn't feel that way and it was obvious from his actions that he wanted to go right on living.

When will these merchants of death stop  selling these lies and deceptions to vulnerable people? This denigration of life and celebration of death. Such monsters. False promises of an eternal life thereafter. Such hogwash.

After the service, and digesting the indigestible, we headed north to Andy Jackson Flight Park, to find a place that was really packed with pilots having a great time and really celebrating all the great times that they had with Rob. 

The sky was full of soaring craft and we got to see great landings one after another. One landing we didn't get to see down at the LZ, but they did on the Marshall launch, was when Mitch McAleer flubbed a loop and "landed" just behind launch.

Mitch took off from Marshall in a local pilot's Moyes glider to test it for him for aerobatics. He thermalled up for about ten circles. He then did a loop a little behind Marshall launch, then another one which was a little too slow and he ended up on top of the undersurface of the glider upside down. I guess Mitch is too used to how Wills Wing gliders loop.

He wasn't high and he was holding onto the base tube according to one witness trying to "muscle" the glider back around. At less than 150 feet above the launch he let go of the basetube and threw his chute just as the glider slipped to one side and started going down fast. The parachute came out immediately and opened just as he hit the hill side behind launch.

Mitch was relatively unhurt and the glider was unhurt. He quickly left the party.

The party continued with hundreds of pilots and friends enjoying themselves. We had to leave just as folks were getting up to tell stories about Rob. It was so great to see so many people who had been touched by Rob

Rob is dead and gone. Memorials are for the living, not the dead, who have no way of knowing that all their friends really cared this much for them. I miss Rob and wish he were here. Seeing his picture makes me feel that he is here.