Monday, December 5, 2011

Plane Down

"Oh no."
I knew from Nick's voice it was bad. He'd been reading some national news on his laptop.

"A Trinidad went down in Silverton yesterday. It's gotta be Steve. I'll be shocked if it isn't Steve."

As his fingers typed some searching words, I noticed his hands were shaking, just a tiny bit. My heart beat in my throat. Déjà vu.

When Nick couldn't find Steve on Facebook, he looked up his wife Jan. Already there were half a dozen messages on her profile page reading, "Rest in peace, my dear friend."

There were four people on the plane and no one survived. The Herald published an article this morning but it didn't mention names because they have yet to find everyone, so I still don't know who the other two passengers were. A mutual friend said they were Jan's colleagues from the Alpine Bank and that they were headed to Aspen for a company Christmas party.

This hit close to home, literally and emotionally. Nick and Steve spent many hours together in little cockpits; actually, Nick went with Steve to New Hampshire to pick up this plane when Steve bought it. And Jan was lovely and fun to be with. They've lived here forever and were very involved in the community.

Their families received the same phone call I did, but without the: "...everything's going to be okay" part. Those phone calls are planets apart, and my heart aches for the Osbornes and Measleses, the families of the other two on board,  their friends, everyone at the bank who lost three colleagues, for everyone at Building Specialties, where Steve was owner and president. So many people are hurting right now.


Lying in bed last night I asked Nick how he was feeling, and waited. When I wait for his words I'm usually richly rewarded. He spoke until 2 a.m.

This hits very, very close to home.

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http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20111209/NEWS01/712099902/Durango-remembers



 Steve n' Jan


   

1 comment:

  1. I'm sure the irony of you signing off your previous blog "Life is too short" hasn't escaped you. I thought of you, Nick and the girls when the recent Arizona plane crash made the news over here, and now this happens. Such a tragic loss.
    Much love
    Gill x

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