A little closer to heaven

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Neither my father nor my mother could recognize me or understand anything I said while they were alive. Why they could do that much better after they died I'll never know.
 
Naw. I try to fly in a safe enough manner that I don't feel closer to heaven or hell. <----- it's a joke, a joke I say
 
steingar said:
Neither my father nor my mother could recognize me or understand anything I said while they were alive. Why they could do that much better after they died I'll never know.
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That's certainly an interesting reply. EDIT: Michael, we sometimes know how your parents felt!
 
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Bill Jennings said:
That's certainly an interesting reply.
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People view the world through their experiences, and their thoughts are shaped through their interaction with the world. My parents died from horrific cognitive decline. I didn't feel particularly close to them while they were still alive, there just wasn't a lot to feel close to, unless you like things like drool and stool. Again, how is it that they are anymore cognitively sound now that they're deceased?
 
steingar said:
People view the world through their experiences, and their thoughts are shaped through their interaction with the world. My parents died from horrific cognitive decline. I didn't feel particularly close to them while they were still alive, there just wasn't a lot to feel close to, unless you like things like drool and stool. Again, how is it that they are anymore cognitively sound now that they're deceased?
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Hopefully you remember the good times before the decline.
 
Sometimes flying low and slow at civil twilight gives me that moment of zen that we all need once in awhile. I know where you’re coming from.
 
Bill Jennings said:
My grandparents and parents have all passed on, and sometimes when I'm flying I talk with them a little bit as I feel I'm a little closer to heaven. Anyone else have this feeling when they fly?
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Both of my parents have passed as well. My dad in 2003 (82) and my mom in 2012 (87). They both lived long full lives but I still miss them both very much. My dad was always a source of wisdom and good advice when needed. My mom was a loving person that would do anything she could for us. It was very sobering to realized when they passed that my brothers and I are now the seniors of the family. But yes, I can fully relate to your feelings.
 
steingar said:
Your upbringing was obviously considerably different than mine.
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Correct. Not all of us had pleasant childhoods with memories of our parents or grandparents that we care to think about, or close relationships with them. I hope my kids will end up wishing they could talk to me again when I'm gone and missing me, but it's a feeling that I'm not familiar with.

To those that miss your parents, you're lucky.

Now to the general feeling of peace and zen that comes from flying, absolutely. Saturday night flying home at FL230 we were flying right into the moon rising. At 290 KTS over the ground, the moon rise is greatly accelerated. A true sight to behold. Flying is full of moments that you simply can't experience any other way, and make you truly appreciate the world in which we live.
 
I know when I am up there I get a feeling of being close to someone very close to me whom I lost 3 yrs back


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I had good folks and mom is still around, as is Karen’s mom, but everybody else is gone. Since I had the privilege of both nice folks and knowing two great-grandparents, the family is a lot smaller now than it was when I was a kid.

Her siblings all have kids. Neither my step-sister or half-sister do. We also don’t. So we keep up with the nieces and nephews but really only see them a couple of times a year. One of her brothers committed suicide last year.

What I truly miss are the large family gatherings. We get a little taste of that when the cousins visit mom’s place but it’s not the same.

My grandfolks once had 20 people snowed in in a double wide trailer during the Denver Christmas blizzard of 1982. The Christmas party stayed in full swing and people hiked out to get supplies. People crashed everywhere.

They always invited anyone who didn’t have local family to celebrate holidays with.

Closer to heaven? Not really. Closer to death every year, yeah... a little nagging feeling I had better hurry up and do whatever I’m going to do, seeing how fast it’s all gone so far.

Grandpa passed well into his 90s. Dad passed at 61. Not planning on following in dad’s footsteps but no one really knows. If I did, it would mean life would be over in less than the time I’ve been married to my wonderful bride. Better get on with it, whatever “it” is.
 
At least Nate didn’t say he felt closer to heaven while riding in the back seat of the ‘kota...
 
I am usually busy flying to think of anything else.

There were a few times in Alaska, usually during winter and before sunrise when the northern lights are so spectacular that I was in a zen place. The temperature would be in the -10 to -20s. The stars would be twinkling, the lights of a far off village would be just shimmering. The temperature inversion would bend the lights making the village look as if it was floating in air.....

At that time I would think that I am the luckiest pilot in the world to be exactly where I am at the time.
 
Zeldman said:
I am usually busy flying to think of anything else.

There were a few times in Alaska, usually during winter and before sunrise when the northern lights are so spectacular that I was in a zen place. The temperature would be in the -10 to -20s. The stars would be twinkling, the lights of a far off village would be just shimmering. The temperature inversion would bend the lights making the village look as if it was floating in air.....

At that time I would think that I am the luckiest pilot in the world to be exactly where I am at the time.
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You mean a fro-zen place, right?
 
Hmm, never made that connection either. My father never mentioned any spiritual beliefs, I have no idea if he believed in an afterlife. I know that by the time of her passing, my mother didn't, so it would be hard for me to think of her spirit being around when she didn't believe it would be herself.

The only time I ever thought of my mother and hang gliding was on her 80th birthday where I got her a tandem flight at Wallaby Ranch in Florida. She had a blast.
 
Both of my parents are gone, in fact 10 years as of last December. Dad was 93, Mom was 91. They never knew me as an airplane owner, only as a pilot, and would probably not have approved - they wanted me to keep in close touch with them by phone every time I flew. So for that reason, I can't say that I feel any closer to them when I fly. Flying is something I do for myself anyway.

As far as feeling closer to heaven when in the sky... not in that sense. I do feel that sense of serenity and quiet competence when traveling GA that I don't feel at other times, but I don't have any beliefs about heaven or hell to begin with, much less that heaven is "up there". I think our consciousness, our being simply ceases to exist at death - though I hope I'm wrong about that. It's not something anyone alive knows for sure.
 
Bill, I thought you'd bought property at Heaven's Landing ;)
 
I'll admit to feeling a certain spirituality during an afternoon flight to nowhere when engine is purring a constant throaty hymn, the sun is setting, the earth below is tinged with gold, and the sky above a deepening blue.
Probably as close to heaven as I'm gonna get.
 
azure said:
I think our consciousness, our being simply ceases to exist at death - though I hope I'm wrong about that.
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Yeah, I've often thought "this can't end" but I suppose it does. Something that would be interesting to discuss in the wee hours around a campfire after the bottle has made it's rounds...
 
I don’t believe in heaven or hell. Dead is dead. But if something that someone does makes them feel an increased emotional or even spiritual connection to the departed and brings them a sense of peace, I see nothing inherently wrong in it. Whatever works.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Yeah, I've often thought "this can't end" but I suppose it does. Something that would be interesting to discuss in the wee hours around a campfire after the bottle has made it's rounds...
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You making the bonfire? That sounds like a good opportunity.

But... (and this isn't directed at you) let's remember not to get into a religious debate here.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You making the bonfire? That sounds like a good opportunity.

But... (and this isn't directed at you) let's remember not to get into a religious debate here.
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What if we cloud it in euphemisms
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You making the bonfire? That sounds like a good opportunity.

But... (and this isn't directed at you) let's remember not to get into a religious debate here.
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Funny thing is I didn't intend this to edge towards the SZ, buy hey, this is PoA...
 
denverpilot said:
Bonfire? Must be a Viking funeral... ;)
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Actually, I would be all for a Viking funeral for me. I think it'd be really cool, and am not much for having plots. Given how much I've traveled in my life (and intend to keep doing so), spending the rest of eternity in one spot sounds very boring. Or, just shoot my body into outer space to go find Elon Musk's Tesla and right seat it with The Stig.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Actually, I would be all for a Viking funeral for me. I think it'd be really cool, and am not much for having plots. Given how much I've traveled in my life (and intend to keep doing so), spending the rest of eternity in one spot sounds very boring. Or, just shoot my body into outer space to go find Elon Musk's Tesla and right seat it with The Stig.
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Go with the Viking thing. We don’t need any more space junk. Elon’s just trashing up the solar system for marketing. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Actually, I would be all for a Viking funeral for me. I think it'd be really cool, and am not much for having plots. Given how much I've traveled in my life (and intend to keep doing so), spending the rest of eternity in one spot sounds very boring. Or, just shoot my body into outer space to go find Elon Musk's Tesla and right seat it with The Stig.
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Both my parents chose to be cremated and have their ashes scattered in the Gulf. Right now, either or both could be part of a crab shell or a shrimp. These molecules we're made of, they're not ours, we just borrow them for a while.

When my time comes, I told my daughters to take my ashes on a road trip. Go up to Lake Lanier, drive past the hang gliding launch, take me past Road Atlanta, then drive south to Florida, take me past Daytona International Speedway, and scatter the cremains in the Atlantic. When I'm dead and gone, I intend to be dead and gone, the world is for the living, I don't need to be taking up space when I'm dead.
 
I never thought of it that way. I like the idea of it. I do have people that have passed, so its actually a nice idea.
 
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