In memorium: Rob Davie, aka BigJetDriver

[Gary D.]

This doesn't happen to me very often because on a real operation I am very strict and focused.

But on the recovery dives we just did on Wed. and Thurs. BJD was with me. I didn't lose my focus on the dives but I did feel that he was there. That's a very unusual feeling for me to go through.

I don't think we have lost him. I think he may have just been promoted to another higher position.

Gary D.

 

[MilitantMedic]

I can’t think of any man or woman who better epitomized the diving community than Rob Davie. Such outspoken gentlemen are truly in rarefied company in our day. Even for those of us who lived thousands of miles apart, he was still able to touch our lives.

I firmly believe that Rob Davie has not stopped diving, he has merely moved to a new plain of diving. He now has the deepest, clearest blue waters and the largest cerulean skies in which to ply his trades.

As pilots waggle their wings and divers enter the depths, Rob will be with us.

 

[D_B]

I can't help but think of BJD when I read this ...

The Adventurer ...

I am the ash: the result of the brilliant and exciting flame.
Not the dust, which collects in the corner from a cowardly existence.
I burn from the energy of life, and was never stifled by dry rot.
I am the meteor: racing through the heavens on an impending adventure.
Not the dull planets, whose very existence is the result of an endless cycle.
I seek what most won’t dare, and see the things that were meant for the few.
My function is to live, not to exist. But in doing so, I tread the boundary of death.
Teasing him, giving him a taste of my resolve.
Death will eventually win this game, this battle, but I will not be intimidated.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time, as God has put me on this Earth as a scribe to his creativity.
Only he will know, when my clock strikes the hour of his content.

Eric Stadtmueller (mempilot)


http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=707166&postcount=23
It was written by Eric, about himself, but is very fitting here none the less
I think from my reading his post, that Eric would think that the use of it here would be OK with him.
If I have broken any etiquette by posting it, please remove it

DB

 

[Natasha]

This doesn't happen to me very often because on a real operation I am very strict and focused.

But on the recovery dives we just did on Wed. and Thurs. BJD was with me. I didn't lose my focus on the dives but I did feel that he was there. That's a very unusual feeling for me to go through.

I don't think we have lost him. I think he may have just been promoted to another higher position.

Gary D.

Gary:
I'm glad you said this. I believe you. I have had the same feeling. Rob knew I rode my bike daily in the woods. He knew I was a bit afraid, but I did it anyway. He called me to talk about safety and how to defend myself. I feel him when I'm riding now.

 

[ScubaTexan]

I will always carry part of Rob with me in my wherever I may go...

 

[nessum]

It's always sad to lose another diver. I am very sorry to hear this news. My condolences to his family and friends.

 

[PAdiver93]

Honestly! Peeps, SB OPs - this should be the thread that is featured - one of us has sunk - let us bring hi to the sun fed part of the water - let us see our boy enjoying himself - we need this thread featured - 10days at least?! VOTE!!!

 

[Blue Moon]

While we are all on individual journeys, our love of the water makes us kindred spirits… We are fortunate that occasionally our paths cross in exotic locations as well as this medium where we enjoy hangar flying to borrow a term from one of my other hobbies…. Of course, it makes it all the more difficult when someone that we care about moves on to the next realm…

I started diving and flying when I was a teenager. I was driven to do both as they occupy a place in my heart where I take my internal marching orders from… That desire of the heart thing that I try my best to follow….

Fortunately diving for the most part has been a spectacular bonus in my life… Flying was my first love and holds that special place in my heart but on the other hand, it also brought much more misery in my life than I thought was possible… I started flying aerobatics around 1990 and for the first ten years flying air shows over 30 of my friends hit the ground and died….

Being a diver, pilot and fellow Texan, I felt like BJD was certainly a kindred spirit… Here is a poem that I wrote to celebrate the lives of so many of my friends that have Crossed the Chasm of Life before me…. Forgive the length, but to paraphrase Mark Twain, I did not have time to make it shorter…

Crossing the Chasm of Life
©Geryl Mortensen

When I pull 8 Gs to rocket vertical in a missing man formation at show center, I do so in remembrance and honor of fellow aviators that have crossed the chasm from this life to the next…

While I know what it means to me, I can only hope that those watching equate the display as a celebration of life that was lived at full throttle bound only by the limits of the realm we all live within… Hopefully the remembrance of the life that we honor will draw attention to the precious gift of the moment that defines our existence…

When I descend into the abyss I am overwhelmed with the majesty of the deep… The freedom from gravity and the magic of the deep perhaps provides a small taste of what it must be like to be free of the limits that define our realm…

As I live in the gift of the moment that defines my life, I know that one day I’ll cross the chasm from this life into the next and all the limits that I know and respect will cease to exist for me…. I hope that the Lord has wings waiting for me and when I cross the chasm into the next realm of eternity I will no longer be bound by the limits of my earthly realm…

Hopefully eternal life is all this and more, otherwise how would I get over losing the precious gift of the moment that we all have now…. For now, I’ll cherish the love, beauty and wonder that surrounds me in this realm and not worry about the past or muse over the future because I believe that if I live my life within the gift of the moment, that crossing the chasm of life will not be that big of a leap when the time comes….

For now, as life is currently defined by time, life is this moment, and with that understanding I live each moment full throttle with no regrets for it is the things that we do not do that we look back and regret when our moments here come to an end…

I can’t help but wonder what it must be like for those that have crossed the chasm of life before me as time and distance as we know it must be different, perhaps it no longer exists…For now, I’ll choose to live each moment and be thankful for the gift of life. Hopefully the gift continues with wings from the Lord that will allow me to explore the stars in heaven and the depths of the sea but as His gift of life is so good now, I’ll put no limits on what my future holds in that life and be thankful for the moment that I have now…

Today as I pull vertical with smoke on, I celebrate the life of those that lived theirs full throttle… I am thankful that we were kindred spirits and shared moments of life together in this realm… May wings of freedom and an eternity of love await them in heaven….

 

[rawls]

Saw his posts and replies so many times in the short time I have been a member. My sincerest condolences to his family and to all of you on this board who knew him well. My heart goes out to each and everyone of you...

 

[Manta Aria]

For the first time in a Long time, my heart feels like it has split...Please give BJDs loved ones my sincerest love and condolences...words fail me...sry...