On their first date, my mum and dad went skydiving.
It was 1979 and a friend had set my mum up with a "nice, boring man" (as mum put it). A great fit, her friend must have thought, for a semi-shy, patient woman who spent her childhood in Lisoux, Saskatchewan and would weed the garden and collect smooth stones for fun.
The Airport Chalet in Whitehorse, Yukon was a place where everyone knew your name and which seat at the bar was yours. It was here that mum met her blind date, but instead she was drawn to the charming Scot who had only recently packed his belongings in a Tartan-print suitcase and arrived in northern Canada with 50 pounds in his wallet.
Below the photos of planes and flight legends that decked the walls in Yukon aviation history, airline staff, from pilots to ramp-rats, passed their time. Dad, the cargo manager at that time, was relaxing by the fireplace, getting "rum-dumb" as the night went on.
On their second encounter, dad extended an invite to her for a quick trip south to leap out of a plane. They headed south to Carcross, Yukon in his black '71 Ford Interceptor police car - the car he would later sell to buy her engagement ring.
There's more to the story but I'm working on getting it published so stay tuned!
