We Spread John's Ashes in the Indian Ocean

On this Memorial Day weekend we sailed out into the Indian Ocean in a dhow, an Arab sailboat of ancient design, and placed John’s ashes in the most crystal clear blue-green water we have ever seen.

For almost two hours we sailed, smiled, cried, and remembered John.

There were a number of coincidences that made us believe that John was with us.

First, it had been rainy and overcast for the previous three days, but when we woke up on Sunday morning the sky was blue and welcoming. It was almost as if John was telling us he was ready and inviting us to move forward.

Second, Faisal made it to Zanzibar the night before the ceremony despite numerous obstacles while flying from Sudan to Kenya and then Zanzibar, with a vehicle breakdown and an unscheduled landing in Kilimanjaro in-between. After all of that, who could doubt he was meant to be there?

Finally, the predator crows which had invaded the resort for the previous three days disappeared on Sunday in an interesting twist.

On that morning we took the box with John’s ashes and headed to the sea.

While on the dhow, we asked our guide if we could go out past the reef, but there was a language barrier and we weren’t getting an answer. After a lot of confusion someone asked, “Where are we going?” And the funniest moment of the whole day came when the response to our question was “Sailing!”

We all broke out laughing and then glided into remembering our favorite funny stories about John. It was amazing how we remembered so many things that were said about him at the funeral ... the story about him clapping his hands while riding his bicycle out of respect for the chief he was passing on the road and then promptly flying over the handlebars; the story about him commenting to one of his high school friends when sitting in the back of his pickup truck how great it was to be in a pickup and not have chickens pooping on his head or babies crying on his lap; and other stories of how he always made us laugh and smile.

It was then time to raise our glasses and toast our friend John and his mother Jane for sharing him with us and begin the process of scattering his ashes.

One by one we poured his ashes into the beautiful, crystal clear water and just as we finished we turned to see a flock of seagulls rise up off a dhow into the sky. It was an incredible moment because for the past few days we had commented on the fact that there were only crows, and no seagulls, on the beach.

But there they were, spreading their white wings and lifting off into the sky. The timing and symbolism seemed to speak for itself.

Peaceful, beautiful, tranquil, heaven bound.