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My
Dad, Anthony Nespoli.
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I
would like to
start my dedication page
with the man fully responsible
for my life and for my
dreams of Flying.
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I
can
still remember the days when my father would to take
me to Kennedy airport to watch
the airplanes land and take off.
It was truly an exciting time for me. I must have
been 5 or 6 years old at the time.
A boy with his Dad.
Both of us watching these tremendous metal birds
fly.
The roar of their engines were enough to get
us screaming at the top of our lungs.
He promised me one day I would be on one of
those planes.
He kept his promise. When I turned 15 years old and
sent me to Florida.
My
Dad was a simple man. He
worked as a longshoreman
down on the docks of New York City.
He was a hard worker. He loved
his family. Although he didn't verbalize
his feelings to us, He showed his
love in other ways. My Dad was my hero.
I looked up to him.
He was big and strong. Yet he was a real soft-spoken
man. All my friends said
that my Dad was a great guy. He was real
generous to people.
He was not a prejudice man.
He loved all people.
Unfortunately, that gave some people the chance
to take advantage of him.
I witnessed that
on a few occasions. I would see the disappointment in
his eyes.
He would
try to show me how mean some
people can be.
When I moved to Los Angeles. He was very sad.
My Mom told me that he would be in his room and
cry.
He missed me very much.
He knew that I was happy living in California. He
would record me on different TV shows.
I would send
him pictures of myself with different celebrities.
He would bring the photo's to his work and
show his friends.
He was proud.
When I started sky diving he was
both excited
and scared for my safety.
I will never forget that time my father said he
admired me because I had the balls
to go for what I wanted. I didn't
let anything stop me.
That was undoubtedly the proudest moment in my
life.
I received approval from my Dad. That to me was priceless.
On
Feb 10th 1994 without doubt the worst day of my
life. 4 minutes before his
death, my Dad was watching me from a
distance, hoping I would be on time to
the airport to return to LA. I looked away
for a moment, I heard the emergency sirens.
I ran to my parent’s house only to find my
mother over my Dads body crying.
Asking him not to leave us.
HE suffered a massive heart attack. A part of me
died as well. My hero was gone.
My Dad once again taught me another lesson in
life. That is that life is too short!
And live while you can! He also taught
me to live your life to do fullest. I plan
to do just that.
Thanks
Anthony Nespoli for being my
Dad.
I love you.
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I'd
like to thank the other three
important people in my life.
My
mom Catherine, my brother Louis, and my sister Amelia,
who always seem
to remind me of their love for me.
My mom who had to put up with my
crazy life style,
and always accepting
me for who
I was.
She always showed her love for me unconditionally.
My
brother Louis,
for being one of the greatest brother any guy could
have.
He was never jealous of me in any way.
He too was very supportive in my career,
and very proud as well. My sister
Amelia who would always protect
me and
made sure that the women I dated,
treated me with respect.
She too is the
greatest sister a guy could have.
Although we live miles apart,
We keep in contact on a daily basis..
I
know that they are very concern for
my safety and well-being.
They give
me their love and support in whatever
decisions I make in life.
Along with
my Father, my nieces and nephews,
they too
are my biggest fans.
God has truly blessed me with all these
wonderful people
l
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I
dedicate all my love to my biggest fans, my Nieces
& Nephews.
Who constantly remind me of their love for me.
Without these kids, my life would not be complete.
I've learned that no matter how tough and
lonely my life can seem
at times, I am the luckiest guy alive having these
kids in my life.
My sister in-law's Dad Al Ciccone would say that he was the
wealthiest guy alive with
all the love he received from his family.
I now see what he meant by that, because I truly feel the
same way too.
l
Joe Jennings
I
would like to take this opportunity to thank my
friend and mentor Joe Jennings.
Joe has giving me the chance to work with
him on numerous commercial,
and television projects, both in front and behind
his helmet cam.
Seeing his work 5 years ago amazed me .
Being his subject in freefall now, can be
compared to an actor who gets the
chance to work with Robert Dinero , or
Al Pacino.
He is truly a legend in Aerial freefall cinematography.For
me
it was a dream come true.
Joe has filmed the best jumpers in my sport,
and has numerous awards for doing
the best job.
I still have to pinch myself at times when I work
with him. His sense of humor
and professionalism makes working
with Joe so much fun.
Without Joe's generosity, help and inspiration,
my resume would not exist.
Thank you Joe.
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Thank
You Joe & Sissy Jennings for opening up your heart
to me,
and considering me a part of your extended family.
k
John
Vincent Sombrotto
Johnny, it's hard
to believe that I went through a year with out yelling,
hugging, cursing, kissing,
wrestling, or sky diving with you.
But I did go through this year missing you!
You were in my thoughts, my conversations,
my dreams,
my tears, and most of all, my heart.
You made yourself known to me on several occasions.
Some experiences I have to keep alone to myself, they were too
embarrassing!
Which brings me to my next
point. I'd like to ask you to
not pop up at those times.
I can picture you saying to me, "Carl! What the
heck you doing that for?"
I listen to your
songs in my car. Gianni, Joe Sirko, and I constantly
talk
about you when we go sky diving.
We all laugh at the memories, and cry alone.
Because we all miss you!
I did a lot of things in my life that I needed you to be there for me,
to say "Hey
Peanut! You did good! I'm proud of ya."
I knew that you touched a lot of people, but I had
No Idea how
many people! Johnny, everyone
I speak toall say they all loved you!
I look at the pictures of us and just cry.
It's not fair.
You were really my best friend. When we
cleared
out your belongings, I found
a lot of pictures that you saved of me. You
were a good friend to me.
I found the funny poem that you wrote about me. I hated that
poem!
Now, that's my prize possession.
You had a weird way of
showing your love to people, now, I understand why
and how you were.
I'm glad that I went to do laundry that cold winter
day in 1987.
The day that you insulted, hugged and kissed me! (
the Italian thing)
all with in 5 minutes of first meeting you.
Ironically, 11 years later, you and I went to do laundry
together and you actually
crawled in the dryer, and asked me turn it on.
That was the funniest thing that I have ever seen
in my entire life.
Johnny, you were the best.
I'm so glad that you considered me to be your best
friend, because that's
exactly what you are to me. Blue Skies to you
my buddy. I love you, Johnny.
Say
hi to Sinatra, Lennon, Elvis, Hendricks,
Sammy
Davis, the 3 stooges, and most important, my Dad.
Rob
Harris
I like to
thank the man who had a tremendous influence on me,
and my
participation in sky diving ,as
well as countless others in my sport.
Rob Harris.
Every Sport has a great one. Rob is , and will
always be "The Great one"
After seeing him and Joe, I knew I wanted to fly just
like Rob. He was loved
by many all over the world. Ask anyone, and
they'll say. "Rob, He was the
man"! Rob set no limits on his life. He
only set goals!, and achieved them.
First Place! and in style.
There will be no other man to take his place.
Any fame I achieve during my
skydiving career, I will never forget the man who
inspired me, and gave me the
confidence to challenge my fears, and go for
my dreams in the Blue Skies....
When I jump till this day, before I exit the plane,
I speak to Jesus, My
Lord. My Dad, and I give a thumbs up to my inspiration,
Rob Harris.
:)
Jim Ewald
Occasionally in my sport, you meet some people
that are not only super
talented, but exhibit an incredible amount of mental
confidence to overcome
any physical challenges. Jim Ewald is definitely
one of those people.
Almost 4 years ago, after heroically trying
to help out another skydiver in
trouble, Jim paid the ultimate price.
Having doctors tell him that he may never
move again, and countless
surgeries, With the love and support of his Fiancée
Tracey Powell.
Jim beat all the odds set against him, and on
July 23rd 2000 (with the help of fellow sky divers),
Jim climbed
back into in airplane and took his 1st tandem skydive
(with legendary Jim Wallace on
his back), to raise money for spinal cord research,
and for our friend Joe Crotwell.
I have been on some great skydives with the best of
the best skydivers in the
world. But seeing Jim Ewald leave the airplane for
the first time after his accident
was without doubt
the greatest skydiving experience I have ever witnessed.
Welcome back Jim!
We are so proud of you!!
Blue Skies to you Pal!
And
Finally,
My
last dedication is to my best buddy Squatch.
Who, back in 1989, when I was homeless for 10 days
sleeping at LAX, He was with me!
When I slept in my car on those rainy nights, he was
with me! We spent 14 years together,
He traveled with me to New York. He wasn't just an
ordinary cat, he was the coolest cat!.
His organs began to fail him. I was giving him
injections daily.
The decision to Put him "down" was the toughest
decision I had to make in my life. I decided
that I was being selfish. He wasn't living a happy
life .
On that cold, rainy, December day, I took him to the
vet. He looked at me with trust in his eyes.
He knew that I had no other choice. and as that last
injection was administered to him,
he looked up at me and fell into my arms. My heart
was again was broken.
It was at that time that I had
lost another part of me. I never realized how
much of an impact animals can have on our life.
My buddy Squatch had a tremendous impact on
my life..
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