“South Whidbey teacher Sandy Gilbert’s life changed dramatically when Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed into the sea off the California coast on New Year’s Eve.Gilbert’s sister, Janice Sylvia (Stewart) Stokes, was aboard that doomed flight with her fiance, Malcom Frederick Branson. With three grown children, Stokes was starting life anew at the age of 48. The couple were returning home to Alaska from a sunny vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.Although nearly two months has passed since the accident, Gilbert, who has taught at the intermediate school and now middle school in her 15-year career, finds herself dealing with the aftermath on almost a daily basis.The families of the 88 who died have in some ways become one big extended family, and frequently participate in complex conference calls to discuss the crash with Alaska Airlines and Federal Aviation Administration officials, both of whom have been wonderful to the families, Gilbert said.Just last Thursday, the families were told in a conference call with the head of the FAA that so far, 49 bodies have been recovered from the floor of the sea. Malcom has been found, so they must have Jani, Gilbert said, using her pet name for her beloved sister. Malcom’s family has been notified that his remains were recovered, but Gilbert and her family are still waiting.The families were allowed input on how the Navy should proceed with the search for more bodies, with one method quicker but less delicate. The majority wanted a quick find, Gilbert said. While the method being used could disrupt some evidence, the families share the belief that the crash was caused by mechanical failure rather than some intentional act.Since Jan. 31, Gilbert and her family, including son Andy, daughter Karla, and husband Bill, have attended memorial services in Ballard, where Gilbert and Stokes were raised as part of a large family, and Ketchikan, Alaska, where the family has deep roots and where Stokes worked for the Alaska Marine Highway.Gilbert remembers her sister as a tall, strong, vivacious individual, who enlivened every gathering with her fun-loving personality.The family is no stranger to tragedy. Another sister drowned in Ketchican while swimming at the age of eight. When Stokes went to work for the Alaska Marine Highway ferries, she could see the spot where her sister had drowned many years earlier. So she spearheaded a movement to build a monument there for all those lost at sea, including her sister Christine.That memorial was built, and Stokes’ name was listed on the structure as one of the founders.Now, Stokes’ names will also be added to the list of victims, along with her sister’s name.She’s lost at sea, too, said Gilbert.Let a jet remind you to say I love youBy Sandy GilbertSandy Gilbert, sister of a victim on Flight 261, wrote these thoughts for her friends in the wake of what her family experienced after the tragedy.Eighty-eight doves, eighty-eight candles, eighty-eight flowers, eighty-eight surfers. Free airfare, hotels, room service, telephone calls, communication with Washington D.C., the president, the senate and power over what the U.S. Navy will do next. The whole world praying, candlelight vigils, memorials, entire communities and families devastated. Alaska flags flying at half mast and ferry systems holding special ceremonies. Schools acknowledging a moment of silence and everyone you know and people you don’t know wondering what to do, or how they can help. Yes, it is ever so overwhelming as you try to make sense of it all. Christians would find it as part of an overall plan. Non Christians I’m not sure. The enormous impact of this tragedy is beyond anything one can fathom. As for me and my family we will investigate the why?’ Has the fact that flight 261 went down on the west coast affected you, the reader? Do you know any of us, or do you mourn because you have empathy for your fellow men? I guess if we can say the world is a better place because my sister, her fiance and 86 other people lived on this earth and it has made an effect on the way you live, think and act, then we can learn to accept the accident. We all know the skies will be safer because they lived. We know the world has prayed and continues to pray as bodies are discovered and the idea of mechanical failure is questioned.We were all together on Christmas Eve and when my sister left I gave her an extra big hug and kiss as we had been joking about Y2K and Mexico. I told her I loved her and hoped I would get to see her soon if she didn’t get stuck in Mexico. Our family has always been close and I love you flowed easily. This closeness brought about by the sudden loss of a sister, father and mother. Sudden loss changes a person; were we preparing for this? Jani sent one e-mail January 9th to let us know she was alive and having the time of her life. She also stated that the kids had made it back to school safely. That was it.Do you tell people you love them a little more than you used to? Has this made an impact on your everyday feelings? If it has and your life is better, then I guess we can learn to accept this. Speaking of Y2K, when I was watching the news coverage I felt like any country in the world was a better place than here, where we couldn’t even celebrate. Is that why so many passengers were from Seattle? Do we all need to look at our lives and make a change? The impact is still so great and one that will be with all of us for a long, long time. Please continue to pray for us or send us positive thoughts and take a moment to rethink your life.One thing I’ve been thinking about is that the jet was like its own little community. There were servants, families, lovers, teenagers, infants, elderly, pastors, minorities, majorities, etc. One thing I am certain about is when they left Mexico, they probably did not know that they would all perish together. All very different people, yet, I strongly feel their last moments on earth were spent together in harmony of some sort. Do you think they became united?I had a thought about how you can help. Wherever you live, may you constantly be reminded of how precious life is. May a jet flying overhead be a continual reminder to say I love you or to reach out to someone else. Our sister was a ferry worker for the Alaskan Marine Highway at the Ketchikan terminal. Ketchikan is the Gateway to Alaska and everyone was greeted with Jan’s big beautiful smile and her Scandinavian stature. May a jet remind you to reach out to others, to volunteer, to make your community a better place. Be standing at the gateway to whatever you do and greet people with a smile. See if we all can’t be living in a better place because those eighty-eight passengers died for us all, leaving the earth a safer and better place to live. Please look at a jet and think of life.If your life has changed at all because these people lived, please write and tell us how it has changed. I truly believe with each letter we will all find some healing and the reason why?”