An Empty Place in the sky -- Roadwarrior26

[riffclown]

[riffclown]

I want to share a story about a relatively new friend in my world of kiting. Early this year I moved on from tails material to making kites from "proper" materials. Having made one in honor of Air Force Tradition and with the Air Force Symbol I called it Yonder in a nod to the Christmas giveaway riddle I held in 2017.

Midnight Royal was One of my first endeavors and involved mixing nylon and poly in in a Hadziki wing.  It was a 1.5 -ish sized version of Yonder. Larry spoke up and wanted one of my kites with the Air Force Symbol since that branch of service was so integral to his life. I took my time and placed the Air Force logo on Midnight Royal to create Yonder's bigger Brother.  This was one of the first non-tails kites I ever made. And I sold it to a friend. By this point, it was already a given I had sold this to a lifelong friend.

We only flew together once when I walked him through the basics of his kite. One thing I shared with him that day stuck with him when it came to hand control.
I asked, "Are you cheering or flying the kite?"
Like many newbies his motions were lateral instead in a direction that would influence the kite path. We did not live close enough together to fly together so, I decided as part of the deal he should have a membership to KiteLife which I paid for eagerly to help him get the best remote instruction I could provide. Tuesday, I got a call I never want to receive.. My friend passed away over the weekend in his favorite chair. There will always be an empty place in the sky for this new flier who was eager to learn and honestly one of the most genuine people I have ever known.

@Roadwarrior26
Rest in Peace, Larry. You are already missed..

 

 

 

[John Barresi]

Condolences. 🙏🏻

[Mike Klaiber]

Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app