My friends Randy and Jan are pretty special to us at our local airport. Cessna Owner magazine used my photos of them in their 172 on more covers than any other planes I've shot. You can see why, it's a very photogenic plane!
If you know Randy & Jan, you know them as "Randy & Jan". You rarely see Randy without Jan. They've been married for 50 years.
Last Sunday night, they stopped by my hangar and spent some time talking to everyone. We all had a great time and said goodbye when it was getting late. The next morning, I saw a post from Randy on Facebook. "After 50 years, 1 month, and 1 day of marriage. My beautiful, precious wife, Jan, departed this earth , last night. We are in deep sorrow, not knowing how to cope with this. God is with us. She was such a special lady, in every way." I couldn't believe it. I called him and he was crying and I knew it was true.
Yesterday I flew to East Texas where we all said goodbye one last time to this beautiful lady. As you can imagine, Randy's lost. I hugged him yesterday at her funeral and as we cried, he asked, "Where is she? She's always with me. She's always by my side. Fifty years."
Randy took Jan flying for their first date, and even as we look up at gray skies today, I know she's up above enjoying blue skies and puffy white clouds. Selfishly, we wish she was still here with us. The airport won't be the same without her.