To absent friends...

When I started skydiving 3 months ago, there were 4 of us on my first jump course. Me (obviously), John, a 60 year old school teacher, Big Ben (who works in an abbatoir) and Little Ben who was a motorbike enthusiast. Both Bens were pretty quiet blokes but always up for a bit of a chat. None of the others were able to make it to the Drop Zone as often as I did (they had lives you see) but I'd see them round from time to time and always talked to them. Big Ben finished his AFF a couple of weeks ago and Little Ben was up to stage 5. I'd always see Little Ben sitting around in the chairs by the creeper pad in his red and black biker jacket waiting to be manifested and stop and have a chat. He loved that bike of his. I found out yesterday that he should have stuck to skydiving. He had a collision with a tree on his bike last week. He didn't survive. I didn't know him that well, but I did know him and probably more than most at the DZ. It feels really strange to think that one Sunday I won't see him sitting there waiting to be manifested in his jacket. I feel for his family and friends, they've lost a really genuinely nice, quiet, polite young man. I'd like you all to charge your glasses and think on things a while as I propose a toast... To absent friends!