Our son was 32. He was one of our twin boys. He was killed in an accident while base jumping in a wingsuit near Lake Como in Italy. His twin brother and his older sister are heading to Italy to escort his ashes home in two weeks. Somber trip for them.

We had a memorial service for him a few weeks after he died. It was sad but was also a wonderful experience. Lots of friends and family (450) attended in person and several hundred streamed it online. We held a celebration of life the night before. It was more light spirited. Open mic. Lots of fun and inspirational stories, many I hadn’t heard of before.

It is still a punch in the gut. Yet I get a smile whenever I think of him, between the tears. He hadn’t been very active in church the last couple of years. One story we heard was from one of his jumping friends. The friend had come to our house for Christmas dinner last year. The friend had subsequently met with the missionaries and joined the Church. Our son and the friend had talked extensively about the Church before he was baptized. His friend told us that our son had answered many of the questions that he had about the Church and its doctrine . His friend attended the celebration of life but couldn’t attend the funeral, he was baptizing his girlfriend up in LA at the same time as the funeral! 😇