tonto's words

[Taz 0]

Hi everyone,
It's been almost two years since my life partner and fiance, Eric "tonto" Stephenson, passed away at the Johannesburg Skydiving Club on a swoop landing. I know how much he loved DZ.com and how much he participated as a moderator in these forums, and I'd really love to hear from some of you who knew him here!

Last year I started the annual tonto boogie at JSC, our home DZ. It was an awesome weekend with lots of jumps and we also raised money for the Silindile Trust, a charity that he and I started together and that many of you contributed generously to.

This year we're doing it again, hosted by Raise the Sky, a new non-profit organization that grew out of his memory (www.raisethesky.org). We're designing the boogie T-shirts right now, with proceeds from sales to go to St. Vincent's School for the Deaf to help orphaned and impoverished deaf children in South Africa get the education they need. Here's where you come in.

Last year the tagline for the boogie was "Faith is the daring of the soul to go further than it can see". This year I'd love to have it be something different, something he said or wrote. So if you can find your favorite quote that he dispensed in a PM or on these forums and that would be good for a T-shirt, please post it. Or if you have another idea, post away. If we use your quote I'll send you a T-shirt in the size of your choice
And if you want to find out more about the boogie, visit www.raisethesky.org/tonto. I'll keep the page updated in the coming weeks.

Thanks for remembering with me and with everyone who knew and loved him.

Blue skies, -T

It's the Year of the Dragon.

[NWFlyer 2]

This may embarrass you because, well, it's about you, but I really thought it was a great statement about how relationships and love *should* work. It was in the context of a series of PMs about the challenges of long-distance relationships - mine at the time was about 1/10th as "long" distance as yours was, but some of the basics are the same regardless of distance.

At any rate, here's the quote: "It's more important to me that she be who she wants to be than that she be with me. When I look at things that way, I can't lose. "

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Taz 0]

Okay, you got me to blush and tear up at the same time. Sheesh.

When he was still with us I felt like I could do anything for and with him, and now that he's gone I'm constantly reminding myself how much strength there is in having been loved like that.

Thanks for sharing

It's the Year of the Dragon.

[ladydyver 0]

I really miss seeing his responses. I was just getting on here when he had his incident.....his responses were always well thought out and eloquent. His love for you was amazing and we should all be blessed to feel loved like that.

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

He was gone before I got here, but the words he left behind have still touched me.

The quote about the earth being patient and fair (and I don't remember the rest off hand) is very good, but probably not what you are looking for.

How about the one from the birdman ad a few years back:

"The world is made a better place by those who refuse to believe man was not meant to fly."

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[VanillaSkyGirl 6]

During one of our PMs many years ago, Tonto quoted someone else's words to me. He told me that a man that you (Taya) had met, who drove you around in Ghana said the following:

"Love can go anywhere; it can travel easily where no vehicle could ever go. Even a Land Rover."

Then, he wrote:

"That's the truth."

It was really sweet. We were talking about our loves and people whom we love. He was referring to you.
It's a long quote, but it could be partially used or shortened to one sentence to express the original intent.

[Taz 0]

Quote

"Love can go anywhere; it can travel easily where no vehicle could ever go. Even a Land Rover."

Yes! That was MK. He was an amazing driver and not a bad philosopher to boot
I had been talking to MK about how tough it was to be gone from the man I loved for months at a time. I was doing fieldwork then, based in Ghana but mostly traveling in Sierra Leone and Liberia. At the end of one month in Sierra Leone I got a call from the cell phone company there informing me that I was their all-time highest-paying customer They wanted my address so they could send me a toaster or some other kitchen appliance as a loyalty award

I wish I could still pick up the phone somehow, but being reminded of what he said when he was still around really helps.

It's the Year of the Dragon.

[Peej 0]

There's not a day that goes by that i don't miss him with all my heart. And going through his PM's again made me smile all over again, i haven't read them in a while.

Here are a few i found that might be appropriate:

"In the end, it doesn't matter. Only life matters."

"A day without learning is a day wasted."

"In the end we have only each other, and the moments we share."

"What you choose to do with skydiving is up to you, but it will always open doors for you, supply you with beer, places to stay, transport, food, love. It's all yours for the taking."

I'm all teared up now, but in a good way. Looking forward to seeing you soon Taya.




edited for spelling

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[Nightingale 0]

These are the ones I found in a quick search of the forums.


"Blue Skies. This sport glows brightly, and burns incomparibly beautiful images into our memories. That brightness comes at a very high cost. It's the lives of our friends, the blood and the bones of our sky family. That's the dark side, the Black Death.

There is no one without the other."

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2569974;#2569974


"You live life forwards, and understand it backwards. "

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2164509;#2164509

[Taz 0]

Quote

"Blue Skies. This sport glows brightly, and burns incomparibly beautiful images into our memories. That brightness comes at a very high cost. It's the lives of our friends, the blood and the bones of our sky family. That's the dark side, the Black Death.

There is no one without the other."

He also said, in that same post, "If I go in - flame away. Learn what you can, but most likely, it'll be because I made a few small mistakes and they cascaded into eternity. This sport can kill any of us without very much effort."

Truth. It's a lot to think about. Thank you.

It's the Year of the Dragon.

[kbordson 8]

Quote

Live life forwards, and understand it backwards.. As long as we do the best we can each day, we're doing ok!

[MaVriK 0]

Quote

Quote

"Blue Skies. This sport glows brightly, and burns incomparibly beautiful images into our memories. That brightness comes at a very high cost. It's the lives of our friends, the blood and the bones of our sky family. That's the dark side, the Black Death.

There is no one without the other."

He also said, in that same post, "If I go in - flame away. Learn what you can, but most likely, it'll be because I made a few small mistakes and they cascaded into eternity. This sport can kill any of us without very much effort."

Truth. It's a lot to think about. Thank you.

I was here after his incident, but that quote right there has ALOT of sincerety and truth in it...makes ya take a step back and think.... I'm sorry for your loss...regards and blue skies from PA

~MaVriK~
"The Greatest Accomplishment in life is actually Living it"

[Travman 6]

I broke my nose on a barbed wire fence landing off DZ on a night jump. I decided to post the incident on dz.com.
After I posted my experience Tonto sent me this message.

Quote

"Experience is what we get when we don't get what we want."

Thanks for sharing that experience.

As the incident was discussed some people starting trying to flame me. Tonto sent me this message:

Quote

You're doing well in this thread. Don't worry about those "should've, could've, would've" people out there. You landed out and you lived to tell the tale. That's good enough.

I'm watching it closely, but if you feel you're being attacked, rather than defend, just drop me a PM and let me do it for you. I landed out on a night jump with 1500 dives on my 20 somethingth night jump. I walked away unscathed dispite several fundimental errors.

Thanks again for posting your experience.

I never had the opportunity to meet him, but I always enjoyed reading his posts and I looked up to him and I hoped I'd get an opportunity to flock with him one day.
I've been in the sport 5 years and being someone I looked up to, his death is the one that really hits me the hardest even though it was on the other side of the world.
For some reason I decided to do a search on Tonto tonight and found this recent post so I thought I'd share Tonto's words.

[noodlesR6 0]

6 Feb 2006 I did AFF with Tonto. On L7 we got separated in thick cloud for a while then all of a sudden he emerged in front of me with a huge grin. When we got to the ground I asked him how he found me in the cloud?

"I used the force."

[Caleigh 0]

I created this account so that i could find things that Tonto had written, (always found his word to be the most inspirational) and there are so many posts and articles it will take me weeks to go through....

[Caleigh 0]

Please can you send me some of the things he said...