99-year-old from Gabriola Island skydives in Father's Day tradition
Although his name is Patrick, the senior introduces himself as Cliff: “I’m Cliff Drop Over,” he says before laughing at his joke.
His grandson Mike smiles and says his grandfather always has a joke ready to share.
“What’s the difference between an elephant and a mailbox?” Mike asks, setting up one of Patrick’s favourite jokes. “You don’t know? I’m not going to send you to get the mail!”
But Patrick wasn’t joking when he first invited Mike to go skydiving on Father’s Day a few years ago.
“[I’m] hot to trot if you want to call it that way,” Patrick had explained, when we first asked the then 94-year-old why he wanted to jump out of plane.
It’s been a Father’s Day tradition ever since at Skydive Vancouver Island.
“I look forward to it. He looks forward to it,” Mike says. “We get together. Then we go up. Then we go down.”
But this year was different for a couple reasons. First, Patrick is approaching 100 years old.
“No matter how old you get it’s never too late to take life by the horns,” Mike says about Patrick’s motivation.
The second reason this year is so remarkable is it’s Mike’s first Father’s Day as a dad.
“How awesome it is to be a dad and wake up and see their little smile,” Mike says.
And how awesome it is to have your seven-month-old Madeline cheering from the ground.
“She was really cute,” Mike says before showing me video of him holding his daughter while she points up to her great-grandfather’s approaching parachute. “It was pretty special.”
Mike says it was also a pretty different feeling diving down this year. Instead of the usual fear during the free fall, he was filled with awe and gratitude.
“Just appreciating all that is around us,” he says with a smile.
It’s what Patrick has always done while skydiving. He’s spent most of his almost 100 years being a daredevil and certainly never felt fear up here (after serving during the Second World War, he says free-falling 10,000 feet is nothing).
From this perspective, Patrick has always taken the time to consider what he says is most important in life — your people.
“I can’t think of anything more important,” Patrick says. “And just tell them all the time you love them.”
When Patrick lands safely and softly, he describes it with his unique humour: “Like a butterfly with sore feet.”
Then he poses for photos with his grandson and great-granddaughter. The adrenaline subsides, and their bond increases.
“Enjoy whatever you’re doing with them, jumping out of a plane or anything,” Mike smiles, considering the moments shared between his less-than-one-year-old daughter and his almost 100-year-old grandfather — moments a century in the making. “When you’re with family, just love them!”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.