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The Big Metal Tube
“I was in the tube for more than 2 hours. Going in the technicians did their preflight, got their gear all set up and the passenger (me) was ready to fly.” Life experiences make us who we are. Blessed with a career flying Air Force aircraft (11 of them) for 30 years I was not really ready to retire but certainly did not miss the middle of the night calls from the command post, late nights, long days, extensive tdy schedule and many other minor irritants. What I did miss was the aircraft. My last aircraft was a C-17 and standing in the aircraft it looks like a big metal…
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A Life Changing Moment
We never know where our lives are going to take us! Particularly for our service members and their families! Yep, we never knew when the next orders were going to arrive and where we would be heading till the last possible moment it seemed (we had a couple of PCS orders that arrived within 2 weeks of report date for the next assignment). Growing up I had enjoyed seeing airplanes but this northern Indiana farm and steel worker family’s kid had no idea he would be in the Air Force flying aircraft for 30 years defending this wonderful country. So I was enjoying life with a bit more of a…
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A Walk in the Shoes of a Wounded Warrior
Have you ever been confined to a wheel chair? Recently, I had to have surgery on a foot and the doctor prescribed no weight on the foot for a month. Easy enough, let me have those crutches and I will move around I thought! Then came the devastating news! I just didn’t have a lump removed from my foot it was cancer. I visited a couple of doctors for care and one took the cake for lack of patient comfort and bedside manner! Ok, this is an almost exact quote if not the exact words. I have to say I was in a bit of shock but I did have…
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Celebrations and Why and How They Can Be Special
Last week we had a reason to celebrate! A little more than three years ago my wonderful military spouse fought off breast cancer after a long battle with multiple painful tests, surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She never really slowed down and kept on moving ahead with life but then about three weeks ago she had a shock with a possible indication of a recurrence. The surgeon said “not likely” but he needed to do a biopsy to verify! You can imagine the discomfort and concern we both felt realizing another round of treatments was a possibility! We told our family, friends and church what was going on and really…
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Cancer… Ouch
Why are some words just so much scarier than others? Cancer certainly is. I remember when my surgeon called early one Saturday morning. I had seen him in his office just the day before, he performed a biopsy. A gazillion people have them done. We chatted, and he said he was leaving on a long awaited vacation that night. So when the phone rang Saturday, and I heard his voice, I honestly could not figure out why he was calling… and would not process what he was saying. He would not hang up the phone until I repeated his message to me as I stood by the phone swirling in…
