happy sara moments

[crwpj 0]

hey Sara,
you're memorial dive was yesterday morning. it was the first load of the day, and i was grateful to be part of it.
i'm writing this letter because i want you to know my most precious memory of you. it was right before you left for Florida after your first season working as a packer when i was running the mat. you hugged me and said "you're not my boss, you're my friend." then a car alarm went off right next to us, and we both ran in separate directions with our hands in the air screaming, "IT WASN'T ME! IT WASN'T ME!"

i didn't see you again until the next summer, but i wanted you to know that even if that had been the last time i saw you i would have been grateful for the opportunity of knowing you.

i just wanted you to know that every time i think of that it makes me laugh.

goodbye Sara, i love you
p.j.

[Hipwrddude 0]

I really admired Sara, (not as a crush, but in admiration of a wholesome person who was a skydiving enthusiast.) Over the few years that I knew Sara, I was at the edge of the circle, as an acquaintance with conversations in passing. When you see someone, exchange a few words, watch them carefully pack your chute, board and hop out of planes, you get a sense of what they’re about. I think she was an Angel in disguise. Really. On Safety Day at CK March 12, I hadn’t the slightest notion that Sara, in the Square 3 store giving a packing lecture, would show us a star and the moon, uh, moonshine, I mean full moon on a winter day; well, actually two half moons.
In my 20 years in corporate America I’ve heard speeches, seen presentations, attended training seminars, open forums with hundreds of people, and on that day I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I was with Sara’s poise and confidence as she stood and delivered. She blew me away. She mixed straight talk with technical points, transitioned into mistakes and proper procedure just as casually as if she were talking to one person, not two dozen. Her interaction with her audience and they with her sent ripples of laughter in both directions. She was charming to watch. So, as she knelt down over a rig on the floor demonstrating packing procedures and errors, her pants slowly inched south, a.k.a. plumber’s butt. Apparently she liked a certain style of undergarment, which, of course, she looked very nice in. So, as we’re listening to her, many of us are thinking, right now it’s just below the line of decency, any further might be a tad uncomfortable. But, she kept going. Now, how do you interrupt someone giving a lecture to whisper, “Hey, your butt is showing.”? Ah, well, you don’t. So, she’s really into these points she’s making as she works on the rig, the sun is out, and here comes the moon. Then, without missing a beat, she stands up, pulls her pants back up, then kneels back down and continues. A few of us made eye contact and cracked up. From that point on I thought, WOW! Not only is she hot, smart and cool, but she’s bad!
If you were a fierce, tattooed, cigar chewing Indy race car mechanic fine tuning your prized, hand made flagship race car, you’d be furious if anyone saw anything wrong or even looked the wrong way at your machine. On race day Sara could walk right up, glance at you and say, “That looks funny to me.” and you’d be all over it. A group of us had the fortune of having Range shoot video of a jump. As the last seconds of the video appeared on the tv, Sara, walking by, spots something. While the tape rewinds she immediately goes into tracking techniques with Darren, from our jump. The tape plays and there it is, with everyone nodding their heads on how to achieve greater horizontal separation. True, this takes place all the time at dropzones. But Darren could’ve been a member of a National RW Team. It didn’t matter. What struck me about Sara is that she was as she came, honest, straightforward, unpretentious, and without the hang-ups of ego or hidden agenda. She was so pure in her manner it was disarming. To steal a line from Shrek for Sara, “What kind of skydiver are you?” One of a kind.
My sincerest condolences to Sara’s family and friends. R.I.P. Sara Loshe.

You're always the starter in your own life!

[crwpj 0]

does anyone else have a happy Sara moment they might want to share?

[freeflir29 0]

What a wonderful thread. I didn't know Sara really but I am pretty sure I met her at CK once. That's what it's all about. Remember the good times and the awesome person she was.

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[ChrisL 2]

I remember the times she wore her hair in pigtails.

She always made me smile

__

My mighty steed

[Kelly 0]

PJ, you have managed to pull my sorry ass out of the hole I've been hiding in forever..

Let's see. Happy Sara moments. First, there is the awesome young girl who helped me relax during those scary first few times out at the dz. Her kind words, funny smile. Similarity to me in age and attitude. It was all a comfort.

How about the time that she was painting the Xkeys staff mural on the wall out on the back deck. I was all sprained up from a bad decision (next time PJ, I WILL just stay down) and she let my very non-artistic self help with the painting. I messed Pancakes portfolio up so many times and she just kept trying and trying to help me fix it. I remember when we were rushing to finish it up. We were both leaving NJ for the winter and we tried so hard. I have this one picture where we are laughing so hard painting the mural, stopping every fifteen minutes to pride ourselves on the “great” progress we made. I’ve wondered over the years if they were going to paint over it, now I hope it stays up forever in its faded glory. On the bottom right hand corner are our signatures. The last things we painted on that wall, so proud

Danny, Jason and some other guys use to skateboard out front of the hangar.. Sara would walk up, jump on a skateboard, dash around, crash out a few times, fall down, get back up and continue. These were always entertaining moments, watching the guys and Sara have crazy wipeouts and walk away unharmed.

I remember when Sara went to Israel shortly after September 11th.. I was so proud of her to go to an area so wrapped up in America's strong opinions. All the confusion, the doubts, the misunderstandings about the attacks of September 11th, the prejudices. And here Sara is, going to this area.

Every time I heard her speaking Hebrew I was amazed. It’s a hard language, with strong pronunciations. When all the Israel jumpers were here in 2001 I tried to learn Hebrew and could appreciate the difficulty in acquiring the language.

Sara didn't drink and would buy ice cream for her milestones and violations that would regularly result in beer. I remember one hot summer day, I don't remember if it was a beer line violation or a celebration, i just remember that Sara busted out this ginormous tub of ice cream, with every topping imaginable. At first we resisted “just buy the beer”. But when the ice cream arrived we caved in like five year olds and dug in. Thanks for the ice cream treats Sara.

That reminds me of when people would jump with less than publicly appropriate clothing on. Sara would avoid seeing the person topless and/ or naked.

Both of those things, the ice cream and the avoiding, that's just a few of the ways that Sara worked strong religious convictions into this very liberated, loose group. She loved her faith enough, and loved jumping enough, to make the two work together to fit her world and her morals.

The day before Sara and Ron’s accident I was sitting on the deck out back. Sara was in a hectic moment, running from the hangar to the video room. I remember looking at her and seeing how strong she was becoming, her arms were so toned, she stood so proud and bright and shining. And as I looked at her I thought what a beautiful woman she had become, and how much she, and the rest of us, have grown up over the years. For a moment I saw the manifest Sara in my mind and just smiled at who she had become. Plus, I was pretty amused because every time she turned around it seemed that she was coming thisclose to running into Yonathan, who was equally as hectic.

I went out for the ambulance call for Sara and Ron’s accident…. In many ways I wish I hadn’t been out there, but for my last memory of Sara, I’m grateful that I could have been there and had a very brief, very special moment before it all became too much.

When I think of Sara I think of the many times when, over the years, she has impressed me with here dedication and caused me to feel proud of her. There are many memories. I love each one. Thanks for them Sara.

[dgskydive 0]

Sara shot 4 way video for us last year at Nationals. I have to be honest I fell in love with her from the start. It was her smile.

I don't know why it stuck in my head but at the end of the event she gave us a video, at the end of it was a shot of our team walking in from the last jump backs to the camera and she simply said "The end" in that sweet way she had about her. Those words in her voice have been stuck in my head for almost a year now. I only knew her briffly but she definately made a lasting impression.

Dom

[sharkins 0]

It was the night of the Spring Break concert that WMMR was hosting. Freefall Adventures was giving away a free tandem to whoever signed up and was picked. The Xkeys staff went there in two cars. Throughout the night, Billy Idol and Collective Soul were playing. Well the two drivers were the only ones who knew how to drive stick and had one to many to drink. So it was me and Sara driving home both cars and all of our passengers. I drove the Civic while Sara drove the other. They left about 10 minutes before us. Me and Sara knew only the basics on how to drive stick. I ended up leaving and got stuck in major traffic. For some reason, one lane just was not moving. So i finally make it up to one traffic light where this line of traffic had started. There are Sara and Liz completely stalled out and blocking everyone in philly from getting by. We didnt forget to honk at them while we drove past in the other lane ;). I never did find out what time they got back that night cause everyone in the civic went out for pizza in philly. - She attracted alot of peoples attention that night and had an incredible spirit. She was great at telling stories and taught everything she knew about skydiving to people that were just starting out. Blue Skies forever Sara and Ron

[Stacy 0]

Most of my favorite memories were from our time working in manifest together. Sara had a work ethic like no other I've ever seen. While the rest of us were plotting how to get out and make a few jumps, sara just pounded away at whatever there was to do. I remember her and another coworker who had about hte same number of jumps literally fighting over who would get a falcon award first. Sara literally ran out of manifest one morning, grabbed myself nad two other inexperienced people (who had a few hundred jumps, but had no business organizing a brand-new-A-license-holder first 4way) and putting us on teh creepers, and tellign us very assertively that we shold tell her where to go, what to grab, and we had better get at least 4 points.

THe whole spectacle was pretty funny.

___________________

[BethMott 0]

I met Sara when I started jumping at Crosskeys in 2002. I'd spend a lot of time sitting around waiting on weather as a student and I was so enthusiastic and frustrated because I wanted to jump. Sara was awesome. Our personalities were very much alike so immediately became friends. She'd cheer in excitement when she'd see me and she'd say, "Yeah, more women skydivers!" I never saw her in a bad mood. And while we'd wait on weather we'd play around and do gymnastics together in the packing area. She was always laughing and we'd be so silly together flopping around. The vibe that she put out was so exciting and strong that I could never be in a bad mood around her.

One cold day in November as a student, I landed in the swooping pond, and after a hot shower and laughing with Sara for an hour about it, I ended up with clothes that belonged to her and Darren Fisher. We would still joke about it. Sara is in my AFP graduation picture with me by the pond!!

I came back to Crosskeys after being out of the state for 2 years, and she was the first person I wanted to see! We sat and talked in the beautiful May sunshine for a few hours and did our catching up, and my friend and I couldn't stop complementing her on her sexy arm muscles. That girl is a piece of work!! Sara would jump around and squeal with me once my friend was done with her tandem. It's like....no matter how great of a skydiver Sara was, she could always share the tandem excitement with those who were inexperienced. It did still excite her! She never acted like she was too good for anybody because she was a bad a**. The girl is incredible. I will forever miss her attitude and charm. After reading these posts, you understand that everyone was attracted to her in a very unique way...men and women....

Even before her death I though of her a lot because she was one of the most amazing women I've ever met. People always speak highly of a person when they die, but Sara was very different. If you didn't ever meet Sara, you really missed out on something great. One thing's for sure, anyone who met her will remember her forever because she made such an impact.

Sara will certainly have a huge smile on her face when we meet her again in Heaven. I sure will miss her, and I'm so lucky to have known her!

Beth Mott Nashville, TN

[VectorBoy 0]

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does anyone else have a happy Sara moment they might want to share?

I met Sara and Yonatan when they visited for the 2003 film festival. She was very excited about her new to her wingsuit that she had not jumped yet and also failed to bring with her to jump.

Despite some nasty weather days they had their own sunshine. Sara was doing flips into the big bean lounge bags available that most of the locals, including myself, sat mopeing in. We all had a ton of fun learning atmonuati with Marco and Gi. She had incredible positive energy helping make the event, and making their acquaintance very memorable.

[happythoughts 0]

Last winter, we were in Lake Wales and doing 10-way speed. At the last moment, someone couldn't show up and Sara took their place. It was the first time that I had met her. By the end of the day, she was great friends with everyone on the team. It became just a fun day of skydiving among friends.