I realize that this happens to people all the time, and all too often to our military families. Still, the proximity perhaps makes it hit home more to me personally. Rich and I are about the same age, I'd see him or Nancy or the kids almost every day and say "hi." We do the same "dad" things at 1st grade—except he's way more interesting than I am and is gone several times a year to fly balloons all over the world :) We usually pile the kids in his huge pick up to take them trick or treating each year (houses are spread out here, and there is a few hundred foot alt change on our road alone—tough for the really little dudes).
To him this race would not have seemed terribly dangerous. He did, after all, mimic his father's balloon trip over the Atlantic. The Med would seem like a pond, with all kinds of places to stop if needed.
Seems so pointless given modern meteorology that they'd not have been made aware of the severity of the weather while they were still safely over Italy—they went down so very close to the safety of land.
If it was just him (and Carol—she's a friend of my in-laws, actually, she was a Resident when my father in law was an Attending at BCMC) it would not be so bad, risk is what adventure is all about. It's their sweet kids that make me so sad. Nancy at least understands the risks, she's a balloonist herself, still.
Dunno if the USN is still looking, I presume Nancy must be heading home at some point, though it was not her who dropped their son at school today. My daughter was crying yesterday because she felt sorry for her friend having his daddy lost (not knowing exactly what he knows, we made it less certain since she'll see him at school).
|
