[Deborah Ford, Bill's ex-wife and the mother of his children, emailed this note to me and asked that I post it to the forum.]
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Hello,
My name is Deborah Ford and I am Bill Priday's ex-wife. I am writing on behalf of myself and Bill's children Bill, Abigail and Anna Grace to thank each of you for all of your care for Bill at the site and after his fatal accident. I appreciate so much that the time you spent with Bill before the competition started seemed to be a happy time and we are all so grateful to each of you that the time after the accident was devoted to taking care of Bill and gathering up his personal things. Thank you for cleaning his campsite, collecting his glider, loading his truck, and later driving that truck and those belongings back to Richmond to us. Those tasks must have been heartbreaking for each of you to manage and we are so very grateful to each of you.
I read your letters on the website [the CHGPA Forum] and I could hear your pain, your anger and for some of you, a question of whether you would participate in this sport again. Please, let me share this with each of you no matter what you choose an accident like Bill's can happen to anyone who participates in a sport that is high risk. Please have your affairs in order so that if an injury or a fatality occurs, the people that you love and leave behind will know exactly what your wishes are. Make a will, make a medical directive and tell someone where these papers are kept. Bill, like all of us, I guess, thought that these accidents happen to other people. His death and the horror of this kind of death have haunted us, but on top of our tears and pain and loss and sleepless nights we were left trying to put together exactly how Bill would have wanted these events handled. He didn't leave us his wishes written down nor did he tell any of us.
Thank you for allowing me to tell you how much our family appreciates everything that you have done for Bill. We are very grateful. We hope to see many of you on Monday at the memorial service.
DEBORAH A. FORD
A note from a member of Bill Priday's family...
Moderator: CHGPA BOD