The Danny Mandell World Tour!
Today, as the one-year anniversary of Danny's death approaches (Sept. 8), I finalized work on the "Danny World Tour" website.
The idea for the tour was born about a week after his passing, when my best friend Shelley, my mom and I engaged in an unusual ritual. Danny's ashes had been delivered to us from the mortuary, but instead of spreading them all in one location, we decided to put small quantities into decorative bottles and give them to Danny's closest friends.
We purchased a dozen tiny plastic bottles with cork stoppers, some shiny gold fabric to wrap them in, and lengths of purple cord to tie around the bottle necks. These would be used to hold small portions of ashes to be given as keepsakes to those who were closest to Danny. That was the original plan, but as we sat there at the dining room table cutting squares of fabric and filling the bottles one by one with the coarse sand that had once been my son’s bones, Shelley came up with a brilliant idea.
“How about Warren and I take one of these on our motorcycle trip to the Colorado Rockies next month?” she asked. “We could sprinkle the ashes at Independence Pass and Danny could finally get to ride on a Harley!”
I could see Danny clapping his hands with glee and giving us a big thumbs up. And the “Danny World Tour" was launched.
Dozens of friends have since carried the precious little bottles to the far corners of the world, honored to take them along on their vacations and business trips. So far Dan’s ashes have become part of the earth in dozens of U.S. states, and also in the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, Italy, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Tahiti, Germany and the Caribbean sea. He's been fishing in Alaska and watched a rainstorm from a sailboat on the equator. He even tagged along with an air force nurse who was deployed to Iraq (we all prayed that Danny’s energy might help put an end to the war).
To read stories about these adventures and to see the photos, please follow the links below.
To all the loving friends who showed Danny the world, I offer my eternal, forever, heartfelt gratitude.
READ THE STORIES AND SEE THE PHOTOS HERE...
Grand Canyon - by Janine Raby
Puerto Rico - by Adrienne Blackman
Dan's Last Ride- by Shelley Yonker
Ireland - The Hill of Tara -by Elizabeth OakesFishing in Alaska - by Zachary Knop
A Multi-City International Tour- by Keri BowersThe Bridges of Italy- by Wanda Sorrell
Sand, Sea and Spirit in the Gulf of Mexico - by Terri
We Shared his Heart with San Francisco - by Lindsay Roberts
STORIES AND PHOTOS STILL TO COME:
Iraq... by way of Germany - by Amy and Mark
Italy - by Lee Green
Caribbean Cruise - Lori and Neil Shocket(If you haven't submitted your stories and/or photos yet, please do!)
Contact Terri:
terri@danieldirect.net
(541) 504-2147
