VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A friendship that began 35 years ago in Aberdeen, Maryland working together at a pet store, brought two women together at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana's 2025 air show for an emotional reunion that neither say they will ever forget.
Lynne Shepard made a five-hour drive from Aberdeen, Maryland to Chesterfield, Virginia to pick up her longtime friend Barbie Lecaroz and then bring her to Virginia Beach to see the Blue Angels perform at NAS Oceana. For most attendees, this year's air show was a celebration of 250 years of America's Navy. For these two friends, it meant everything.
"A little while back, I was diagnosed with lung cancer, and I have advanced degenerative disc disease," Lecaroz said.
Seeing the Blue Angels perform one last time was on Lecaroz's bucket list. Her dad took her to see them perform when she was about 10 years old, and since then, she has wanted to see them again.
"She said 'okay, so what's on your bucket list?' And I said, 'I want to see the blue angels again,'" Lecaroz said.
"I immediately went on Google, where are they? I've gotta take you," Shepard said.
The two friends hadn't seen each other in 20 years before Saturday's air show. Despite the decades apart, their bond remained strong as ever.
"They put on this phenomenal show that I can have–I'm not gonna cry–I can have a memory that I can take with me when I know that she's not gonna be here much longer," Shepard said.
For Shepard, the trip was about more than just watching aircraft perform aerial maneuvers.
"I wanted to give my angel…some angels," Shepard said.
For just a few hours, Shepard and Lecaroz say it felt like nothing else in the world mattered as they watched the Blue Angels and other military pilots soar overhead.
"There are no words for that. There are no words for that," Lecaroz said.
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