Jamie's Tragic End

I stood at the foot of my twin’s grave. My mind replayed those horrific moments of December 2, 2004. To call your mom and tell her the plane went down, to hear those words. It’s sad, it’s hard, but you get used to the idea.

But the shock of it all sends chills down the spine as the reality tries to settle in. He was about to be ordained as an elder in his local church. He was beginning to start a family with his wife. He was making arrangements for Christmas get-togethers.

We talked about it that morning. And yet in the midst of work for Jesus, he climbs aboard a Cessna 421, having carefully seen to it that the calendars that he had designed for the pastors are loaded safely in the nose of that plane. They share together in a word of prayer and then after buckling up, experience the familiar force of takeoff there at the Collegedale Airport.

Within seconds, they are put into a state of panic as the right engine mysteriously quits and quickly they descend into a forest of trees off Pine Hill Road. In seconds, all but 1 lies still on a cold, damp forest floor.