My mom took this photo of me, but I did the editing.

For those of you who don't understand the cloud & water in the picture, or why I'm kissing this mini picnic table...
When I was a kid, all I wanted was my own little picnic table, so my dad and his best friend, Jody Sperry [whom is the brother of David Sperry] built this picnic table just for me. One cold winter night, the 3 men drove their snowmobiles across the lake to go home from pool league night at Kil Kare Inn. Since it was night, it was too dark to see anything they were driving over, until my dad no longer heard Jody and David's snowmobiles driving along with him (nor could he see them) and realized he was driving across what turned out to be a half-a-mile of open water. My dad's snowmobile had enough power to make it across. Once my dad reached the other side of the ice, he booked it to land and called my mom from some strangers' house, who turned out to be great people. Me, my mom, and Jody's wife were just arriving back home when we got the phone call. As a matter of fact, it was exactly when my mom & I walked into the house which was 11:00PM exactly. Immediately, my mom went to get Kim and we took off. This was happening in Houghton Lake out in-front of Long Point, which was about a mile and a half from where we lived. As a small 1st grader, I was so confused as to why my mom was in such a frantic. Meanwhile, my dad called 911 and headed back out near the open water to try and help them. He heard Jody yell my dad's name 3 times before he heard nothing after that. If my dad turned his snowmobile on, he could hear NOTHING; if he turned it off, he had no light to see. My dad felt helpless; we all did. I didn't really understand, because I was young. All I wanted to do was comfort everyone and fix the pain, and I couldn't; although I was confused, I was hurt like everyone else was. Jody had a daughter and a stepdaughter. His daughter was my best friend and still is a very good friend of mine. We were neighbors for a few years before this happened. David had a wife and one son and lived in Harrison; he also had a fear of water, so he had left his helmet on [we found out later on]. During this time, rumors spread like wildfire through the Roscommon Police Dept. that we "stole a bunch of credit cards and were heading to Mexico". Well, a big EFF YOU to you guys, because Jody and David's bodies were found. The diving team almost gave up the search, but one special diver told them NO. The night Jody and David drowned (and almost my dad) was on January 12, 2003. They found Jody's body on March 12, 2003 and David's body was found on April 2, 2003. The funeral was unintentionally/accidentally held on my dad's birthday, which is March 15th. BUT, we must celebrate the life these two gentlemen brought to us, along with their families and the good times we've all had together. Jody and David, you may be gone, but never forgotten. Fly high. We love you and miss you so much. In the wise words of Puff Daddy from the song "I'll Be Missing You"....."In the future, I can't wait to see if you open up the gates for me".