Layla was given an “officially unofficial” full body naval burial at sea last week, her body dressed in a beautiful pink shroud covered with flowers in colors she loved the most. It was incredibly fitting for “Cancer’s Top Gun” with naval aircraft and watercraft all around, 4-5 miles precisely due west from the coordinates of the runway where she met the F-18 pilot two years prior, a runway made forever legendary by Tom Cruise blasting down the runway on his Kawasaki motor bike. It was aboard her favorite boat, with sea lions and dolphins escorting us much of the way. There was no official order given to support this mission, but as we patrolled our way to the given coordinates, we knew our messages had been received as we saw a slew of helicopters headed that way one behind the other. But we were quite a bit late as the dolphins demanded our attention and temporary deviation from the plan. There were a lot of boats out so spotting us was very hard to accomplish. But I’ve motored this route a hundred times and never before seen so many birds in the air all at once. There was even an aircraft carrier departing port, which never happens as well as other military craft. At 11:02AM, on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025, we lowered Layla, unembalmed, uncremated, her remains naturally preserved, into the water so she could make her way to the sea floor in the ocean she loved so much. She now rests in a place that every time a Navy fighter pilot takes off from that legendary runway, they will fly directly over her for as long as the base remains. The skies on the day were a combinational gray, white, and bright sunshine, but the water was a beautiful, fitting, bright pacific blue. Just after we lowered her in, a helo overhead made a rapid descent, hovered over us for some time, and then slowly headed north over us at a respectful but intentional distance and pace. As the day’s events wound on, it became perfectly clear to us that it was all as she would have wanted. The day was as she was every day of her life, perfect.
