OP
Seattle_Dan
Registered
... I geared up, and made it to Cozumel. My first dive everything was different, and everything went wrong. Anxiety nearly had me quit diving then and there. I pushed through and completed 8 amazing dives culminating with Punta Sur. I discovered yet another alternate universe during my two senote dives in Tulum. I finally started breathing naturally, and my consumption matched the other divers for once, I was at peace under water for the first time. It was pure magic, it was heaven on earth. After we came back I was sitting with the DM out back of the shop, shrouded in a kind of peace I have never felt after diving, and rarely felt in this life. My happiness was hitting a crescendo note and I finally felt myself to be a diver, no longer ruled by my long-time fears of drowning. For the first time, I was becoming confident in the water.
Back at the hostel I was flipping through facebook, and with dismay I saw that a diver in Washington had been lost at sea. I paused briefly and kept flipping mindlessly through facebook. A bit later I scanned past the same post, but this time I noticed a name. In that moment the joy left me, and the reality crashed on the rocks. I'd lost my new mentor, the person kind enough to take me into her home and spend her evening teaching me. I'll never forget the evening I got to meet Lynne. She was giving me a dissertation on the what's and why's of PNW diving gear. Peter was upstairs cooking a turkey, but he would joyfully pop in when he heard something he wanted to add to or clarify. Sometimes they would disagree on some finer point, and being a good husband, he would let her have the last word. You could see that they had a shared love of the deep. Now, like a man without a country, I am a diver without a mentor. I can only imagine what Peter is going through. This is a reality of our sport that I am still trying to come to grips with, and I can't imagine how people can cope with the losses associated with doing this for years. All I can do is keep my promise to her and be that guiding hand to another newcomer someday.
RIP Lynne / TSandM, thanks for your friendship and kindness to me. Our friendship was short-lived, but very meaningful to me. I'm glad to know that your advice will continue to help and safeguard others like me through your SB legacy. We lost a real winner this round. :sad:
Back at the hostel I was flipping through facebook, and with dismay I saw that a diver in Washington had been lost at sea. I paused briefly and kept flipping mindlessly through facebook. A bit later I scanned past the same post, but this time I noticed a name. In that moment the joy left me, and the reality crashed on the rocks. I'd lost my new mentor, the person kind enough to take me into her home and spend her evening teaching me. I'll never forget the evening I got to meet Lynne. She was giving me a dissertation on the what's and why's of PNW diving gear. Peter was upstairs cooking a turkey, but he would joyfully pop in when he heard something he wanted to add to or clarify. Sometimes they would disagree on some finer point, and being a good husband, he would let her have the last word. You could see that they had a shared love of the deep. Now, like a man without a country, I am a diver without a mentor. I can only imagine what Peter is going through. This is a reality of our sport that I am still trying to come to grips with, and I can't imagine how people can cope with the losses associated with doing this for years. All I can do is keep my promise to her and be that guiding hand to another newcomer someday.
RIP Lynne / TSandM, thanks for your friendship and kindness to me. Our friendship was short-lived, but very meaningful to me. I'm glad to know that your advice will continue to help and safeguard others like me through your SB legacy. We lost a real winner this round. :sad:
