Dad Climbs Mt Everest!

My original intent in undertaking this journey was to check off dad's bucket list, one by one. However, in looking at the list, I started to realize that these were all places that he could have realistically visited on his own, given more time and means. If there's one thing I knew about my dad it that he was constantly in awe of what human beings can do with dedication and pursuit. Given that, I kept thinking about how cool it would be to expand the list to places that, even in his wildest dreams, he never would have imagined going... which leads to my friend John Beede.

I love awesome people, especially the ones who inspire you to do great things for the world. I've been lucky enough to know John for nine years. I can't think of anything this guy hasn't done. John has traveled the entire world, is an amazing motivational speaker who inspires thousands of young adults, he's a rock climber, author of the book "Climb On!", kitesurfer, owns multiple successful businesses, and is probably one of the most genuine, giving and humble people I've ever encountered. He has a huge heart and is all about helping others. Check out this video to get a glimpse of how many lives he is changing, and it's a great message to hear too.

John has climbed some of the highest mountain peaks in the world and has been preparing for years to climb the tallest, Mount Everest. The more I thought about John's own journey, the more I thought of how cool it would be if dad could climb Everest, too. I was hesitant to bring up the subject to John, but being his incredible self, he was eager to help and spent his LAST day at home with me to lay out all his gear and find a place to hold dad.

Attaching some ashes to his gear might sound like a simple thing to do, but it's much more complicated than you could imagine. Climbing Everest is extremely risky and dangerous. With the steep cliffs, high altitudes, lack of oxygen and heavy gear, ounces of weight turn into pounds. Adding just an ounce of ashes to his gear is far trickier than you'd imagine. Even more complicated is finding the right place to attach them.

One of the things John was trying to explain to me was how difficult it will be to be able to grab onto anything or get to dad's ashes, so he could leave them at the summit. While we were trying to decide on where to attach the ashes he had me put on THREE layers of gloves to give me an idea of the little amount of traction he would have. We tried many different solutions: his down-suit, boots, gloves, outer pocket, water bottle holder... eventually we found the right solution, the inside of his helmet.

I had no idea how much goes into climbing Everest. It's truly amazing and so inspiring. The roughly two month journey requires an unbelievable amount of dedication. I am so grateful to know someone like John. Not only do I appreciate his selflessness and willingness to help take my dad up Everest, but also for how much he has inspired me to always strive to be a better person, challenge myself, surround myself around good people, and to take risks in life just to see where things go. It's a contagious attitude to have in life and brings nothing but good and exciting things. 

John is already starting the climb and if you would like to track his progress you can do so here.

Good luck on your journey John and thank you from the bottom of my heart. We will go flying in Africa when you are back! Cheers! 

Cool little background story: My Nickname

For those who don't know, my dad called me "Spudz" since the first minute I was born and never called me anything else. Apparently when I was born the doctor handed me to my dad and said that I weighed "5 pounds, 5 ounces." My dad responded with, "Wow he weighs no more than a sack of potatoes, I think I'll call him Spudz. Some may argue it is because I LOOKED like a potato as a baby, however my dad assured me that was not true lol. Now, you may be wondering why I'm telling you this random story about my weird name; here's why:

John told me the best thing to put the ashes in would be a small plastic bag that's wrapped around a "lens cleaning cloth" type of material that could be sewn shut... I've had this little cloth pouch that has a lens cloth attached to the inside of it since the beginning of my photography journey. In fact, I actually purchased it the same day I bought my very first camera back in 2007 and have had it ever since. Here's the oddest part... When inspecting the pouch to see if it would work for this purpose, I noticed that on the inside it had some writing on it, the name of the manufacturer... "Spudz.com." I needed no more confirmation that this was the perfect way to send him to Everest. :)

Pearl Harbor

I must admit that I have attempted several times to write about my trip to Pearl Harbor, but it has been difficult. It has taken the past week to fully collect my thoughts.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on why I decided to start this site, as I’ve have never had a blog before and putting my emotions out there in public is taking some getting used to. My initial reason for starting this blog was in hopes that it may bring some positivity into the lives of others who are going through a difficult time. I’ve been very excited about this journey to honor my dad and want to share it with others, but what happens when I have an especially difficult week, such as this week? Am I supposed to write about the difficult moments, too? I probably would have just given up on this blogging thing, were it not for the overwhelming amount of people, including many strangers, who have told me that what I am doing has helped or inspired them in some way. This feedback has helped me to conclude that I’m going to always be as open and transparent as possible throughout this journey, even if some of the entries are not as happy or uplifting as the others. Should any of my entries result in a damper on your day, I apologize in advance. I promise I’ll make up for it later. J Most importantly, for all of you who have helped me find my sense of purpose in this process, thank you.

So Pearl Harbor, sigh… As I mentioned in an earlier blog it was at the top of my dad’s list of things he wanted to see. After many opportunities to get him there, I kept postponing it and eventually it was too late… Needless to say it was a difficult and emotional day.

There is something very strange (and annoying) about the grieving process…. There are these random and unpredictable moments that trigger you into becoming an emotional mess. There are no warning signs, and sometimes for no reason at all for it, it just happens. A friend of mine recently told me that after a year of her dad’s passing she was at the grocery store and saw a can of olives, which reminded her of her dad. With that, she broke down crying in the middle of the canned food isle.

Skydiving!

Jon Takes Dad's Ashes Skydiving from Jon Carmichael on Vimeo.

Yesterday was an important and exciting day as I finally successfully got dad skydiving. Fortunately, the weather was perfect and the views of Oahu were breathtaking. Here's an HD video of the whole experience, including the moment on the way down when I spread his ashes:

Here's the background story on why this day was so important to me: Both my mom and dad had always wanted to go skydiving. I decided to surprise them and bought tickets for their 30th wedding anniversary, October 1, 2012. The day before our scheduled jump, the skydive company called me and said that we had to cancel our jump because the President was flying into town and no planes can be in the air. We were all so disappointed. 

Little did I know that five days later I would be meeting the President. His 20th wedding anniversary with Michelle was only 2 days after my parent's 30th so I thought it would be appropriate and fun to tell him about what had happened. I'm fairly confident that I'm the only person in the world who has started a conversation with the President of the United States by saying "I have a bone to pick with you..." I told him the story and he laughed, even apologizing and told me to tell me parents he was very sorry. The Secret Service and campaign staff all thought it was hilarious.  

We then tried TWO more times to get them up. The second time was postponed due to a scheduling conflict. The third time we got them all geared up and ready to go. They got in the plane and went all the way up to 14,000 feet. They were seconds away from finally jumping but then the pilot's radio had very unusual interference. They tried to fix it but failed. Without a radio, you cannot warn other aircraft in the area that there are skydivers jumping in that area and the jump was aborted.

Now here's the really strange part....