J_Green
Registered
I am posting this tonight because I won't have much time to tomorrow. It was a year ago, May 19th, 2012 that my father and I went scuba diving out at Alhambra and he drown while we were on our way back to the beach. It was ruled an accidental drowning. After investigating everything it is still not clear what exactly happened. We believe he had a heart attack possibly after over exerting himself going back after something he dropped on the swim in. We never got all of his things back.
So much has happened since that day. My baby girl began to crawl for the first time after we got home from the hospital that night. 2 weeks later my wife and I found out we were having another child, this time a son(whom we named Jedi
- yes you read that right). He looks so much like my father, he reminds me of him every day.
My father taught me how to dive, and encouraged me to explore the world from a young age. Some of my fondest memories of my father are times we went diving or fishing, hiking or fossil hunting. He was a great supporter of mine. I coach pole vaulters for track at Charlotte High School. My father came to all the track meets. Just before he died my father had shared a video I had uploaded to facebook of a girl I coach clearing a new personal best and qualifying for the state meet for the first time - finishing 14th. Nearly a year later that same girl came home a state champion.
It is easy to blame myself for my father's death. I wasn't with him when he died. Maybe I could have done something to save him. There are a lot of questions all of us who were there have about the things that happened that day that still haunt us. I try to encourage my mother and my wife who were on the beach not to blame themselves. I try to think of all the things I might have tried to save him that would have proved futile even if I was right next to him.
On the ride up to Venice from Port Charlotte that day I asked my wife if she had packed the camera as I had asked her to. She told me yes and asked me why I wanted to bring the camera, I don't normally. I said, "Because today might be the last time I ever get to dive with my father." I said those words thinking he is getting older and we may not get a lot of opportunities to do this kinda of thing again. I never thought it would be the last picture we have of my father before he died.
My father's burial request was that we cremate him and sprinkle his ashes out at sea. We laid my fathers ashes to rest outside of Boca Grande pass, but I will always take a few moments to say hi as I kick out or kick in, relax and enjoy the good things God has given us and the opportunity to explore them every day.
I found 5 megs that day. They are all now priceless treasures. I also found that day a brotherhood of fellow divers who helped search for my father. Thank you to Jaime and the guys on Aristakat that day, to Dives4LifeSW and to the many others I never got to thank in person. And thanks to Florida West Scuba for being so patient in waiting to get the rental gear back from the medical inspectors. Your efforts helped us to have a semblance of closure and I cannot thank you enough.
Tommorrow afternoon, I will see you out there, rain or shine, to say hi to my dad, take advantage of the good vis, and hopefully bring one home to celebrate my father's life. I love and miss him greatly.
So much has happened since that day. My baby girl began to crawl for the first time after we got home from the hospital that night. 2 weeks later my wife and I found out we were having another child, this time a son(whom we named Jedi
- yes you read that right). He looks so much like my father, he reminds me of him every day. My father taught me how to dive, and encouraged me to explore the world from a young age. Some of my fondest memories of my father are times we went diving or fishing, hiking or fossil hunting. He was a great supporter of mine. I coach pole vaulters for track at Charlotte High School. My father came to all the track meets. Just before he died my father had shared a video I had uploaded to facebook of a girl I coach clearing a new personal best and qualifying for the state meet for the first time - finishing 14th. Nearly a year later that same girl came home a state champion.
It is easy to blame myself for my father's death. I wasn't with him when he died. Maybe I could have done something to save him. There are a lot of questions all of us who were there have about the things that happened that day that still haunt us. I try to encourage my mother and my wife who were on the beach not to blame themselves. I try to think of all the things I might have tried to save him that would have proved futile even if I was right next to him.
On the ride up to Venice from Port Charlotte that day I asked my wife if she had packed the camera as I had asked her to. She told me yes and asked me why I wanted to bring the camera, I don't normally. I said, "Because today might be the last time I ever get to dive with my father." I said those words thinking he is getting older and we may not get a lot of opportunities to do this kinda of thing again. I never thought it would be the last picture we have of my father before he died.
My father's burial request was that we cremate him and sprinkle his ashes out at sea. We laid my fathers ashes to rest outside of Boca Grande pass, but I will always take a few moments to say hi as I kick out or kick in, relax and enjoy the good things God has given us and the opportunity to explore them every day.
I found 5 megs that day. They are all now priceless treasures. I also found that day a brotherhood of fellow divers who helped search for my father. Thank you to Jaime and the guys on Aristakat that day, to Dives4LifeSW and to the many others I never got to thank in person. And thanks to Florida West Scuba for being so patient in waiting to get the rental gear back from the medical inspectors. Your efforts helped us to have a semblance of closure and I cannot thank you enough.
Tommorrow afternoon, I will see you out there, rain or shine, to say hi to my dad, take advantage of the good vis, and hopefully bring one home to celebrate my father's life. I love and miss him greatly.
