INGO Prayer Chain

[churchmouse]

Prayers and positive thoughts out to all of you still in need.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Another one going up. A dear friend, almost a second dad who has been fighting ALS is coming home tomorrow from hospice to live his final days at the family farm/airport that he loved dearly. "Dad Steve" Stewart and his families can really use your prayers right now. They are literally a second family to me.

Back in the late 60s "Dad Steve" and his wife Janie started a Skydiving dropzone in Waynesville, OH. It outgrew that grass strip and they moved across the border to Richmond where they ran a successful DZ for many years. After getting kicked out of the city due to a literally riotous United States Parachute Association national meeting that ended in a drunken destruction of the Holiday Inn pool in the mid 70's , they were kicked out of the city for about 5 years. Eventually Mom Janie convinced the city to allow skydivers to come back. Fast forward and they divorced and both remarried, but amazingly, like actual adults remained civil and the blended families and eventually their kids ran the operation for many years.

In 1999 on a whim, I surprised INGOer Haven with a bachelor party for all of us to make our first skydive there. While Haven didn't take to skydiving, I sure as hell did. I got hooked and eventually became an instructor and shot video for competition teams and spent about 10 years in the sport. Eventually after about 550 jumps I took a hiatus to rest my neck (after an injury) and concentrate to my family, (making sporadic jumps since) but I still consider them my second family. By the time I started, Steve was primarily a jump pilot that occasionally made jumps.

Dad Steve took me to altitude countless times and was an amazing pilot. One of the best. And an expert in skydiving. Funny story about Dad Steve... My first skydiving rig was a well used one. I cobbled together a well used container/harness with a basic, well worn modern square main parachute, but an old school round reserve parachute to save some cash. ($100 vs $800) While not unsafe, A round was far from common by the end of the 90s.* And the rig was called a Racer SST... Some said the SST stood for "Struggle, Struggle, Thump" Because they were less than reliable. (the thump was you hitting the ground) I cant say I agree. On my first reserve ride due to a malfunction, I hit the ground like a sack of taters under that round parachute, but I was alive and well. Everyone on the ground went into recovery mode to start the process of recovering gear that was haphazardly floating to earth among the cornfields that surrounded the runways. If left in the fields, not only would the unfortunate jumper need to buy another expensive parachute and other gear, the farmer would get cranky when that $1500 parachute got sucked into his harvester and gummed up the works! So everyone helped each other and worked diligently to spot the stuff as it fell and then chase after it into the corn. Everyone had each others' backs. It was a family thing.

So everyone was saying that they saw my canopy, but for some inexplicable reason, nobody knew where my reserve parachute freebag was. Nobody saw it falling. A free bag is what pulls a square reserve canopy out of the container, and then floats away so as to not foul the reserve because it is not attached like a main canopy.

A group of novice jumpers and students were starting to head across the tarmac to blindly search for my freebag, when I heard Dad Steve remove the stogie from his mouth and yell. "Dammit! ROUND RESERVES DONT USE FREEBAGS!!!!!" Turns out they were all looking for something that didnt exist.

Thanks for listening to me ramble.

*I eventually was jumping vintage round MAIN parachutes for fun as late as 2010. Yes, I'm crazy.

 

[Principal Skinr]

Another one going up. A dear friend, almost a second dad who has been fighting ALS is coming home tomorrow from hospice to live his final days at the family farm/airport that he loved dearly. "Dad Steve" Stewart and his families can really use your prayers right now. They are literally a second family to me.

Back in the late 60s "Dad Steve" and his wife Janie started a Skydiving dropzone in Waynesville, OH. It outgrew that grass strip and they moved across the border to Richmond where they ran a successful DZ for many years. After getting kicked out of the city due to a literally riotous United States Parachute Association national meeting that ended in a drunken destruction of the Holiday Inn pool in the mid 70's , they were kicked out of the city for about 5 years. Eventually Mom Janie convinced the city to allow skydivers to come back. Fast forward and they divorced and both remarried, but amazingly, like actual adults remained civil and the blended families and eventually their kids ran the operation for many years.

In 1999 on a whim, I surprised INGOer Haven with a bachelor party for all of us to make our first skydive there. While Haven didn't take to skydiving, I sure as hell did. I got hooked and eventually became an instructor and shot video for competition teams and spent about 10 years in the sport. Eventually after about 550 jumps I took a hiatus to rest my neck (after an injury) and concentrate to my family, (making sporadic jumps since) but I still consider them my second family. By the time I started, Steve was primarily a jump pilot that occasionally made jumps.

Dad Steve took me to altitude countless times and was an amazing pilot. One of the best. And an expert in skydiving. Funny story about Dad Steve... My first skydiving rig was a well used one. I cobbled together a well used container/harness with a basic, well worn modern square main parachute, but an old school round reserve parachute to save some cash. ($100 vs $800) While not unsafe, A round was far from common by the end of the 90s.* And the rig was called a Racer SST... Some said the SST stood for "Struggle, Struggle, Thump" Because they were less than reliable. (the thump was you hitting the ground) I cant say I agree. On my first reserve ride due to a malfunction, I hit the ground like a sack of taters under that round parachute, but I was alive and well. Everyone on the ground went into recovery mode to start the process of recovering gear that was haphazardly floating to earth among the cornfields that surrounded the runways. If left in the fields, not only would the unfortunate jumper need to buy another expensive parachute and other gear, the farmer would get cranky when that $1500 parachute got sucked into his harvester and gummed up the works! So everyone helped each other and worked diligently to spot the stuff as it fell and then chase after it into the corn. Everyone had each others' backs. It was a family thing.

So everyone was saying that they saw my canopy, but for some inexplicable reason, nobody knew where my reserve parachute freebag was. Nobody saw it falling. A free bag is what pulls a square reserve canopy out of the container, and then floats away so as to not foul the reserve because it is not attached like a main canopy.

A group of novice jumpers and students were starting to head across the tarmac to blindly search for my freebag, when I heard Dad Steve remove the stogie from his mouth and yell. "Dammit! ROUND RESERVES DONT USE FREEBAGS!!!!!" Turns out they were all looking for something that didnt exist.

Thanks for listening to me ramble.

*I eventually was jumping vintage round MAIN parachutes for fun as late as 2010. Yes, I'm crazy.

Sorry to hear about your friend. I'll pray for strength for all of you.

 

[theweakerbrother]

Scanning back and thank you everyone for praying for my mother. I am checking in to share a couple of things. She is doing exceptionally well and has made a fantastic recovery. She has had a tumorectomy, plastic surgery, additional chemo after radiation and she is now donning her actual hair instead of wigs as it grows back. My sister jokingly referred to it as her Jamie Lee Curtis phase.

My babies' momma was in a wreck and thankfully is okay. Local Fire Department had to cut the vehicle up to get to her and side impact was serious enough to fracture some of her ribs. Thankfully none of our children were with her. Vehicle is a total loss but it did it's purpose for when I bought it - to protect my loved ones and to keep them safe. Definitely singing songs of praise this morning.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

GREAT NEWS!

 

[Expat]

I am glad to hear the good news TWB. I miss seeing you more often here.