Turning 14 and Taking to the Sky

Remember what it was like to be 14? Did it look anything like the image on the left?  Our home was filled to the brim with youthful exuberance during a sleepover extravaganza celebrating William's 14th birthday.  William and 6 of his friends stayed up late eating pizza, watching movies and talking about whatever it is 14 year old boys talk about.  (I wish the 14 year old girl I once was could have listened in on the conversation.) Sports were played, running was done, games were created and blood was drawn on only one of the boys- I'd call it successful.
But that was the just the party, the gift was the real star of the birthday. We gifted William a very special experience- piloting a plane!  William has expressed some interest in becoming a pilot for a career.  While that may or not be his path in life, we knew there was some serious interest.  So, we recruited his Grandpa Barber, a Certified Flight Instructor, to give William his first flying lesson in a little Cesna 172.
William was beyond thrilled with the prospect of being behind the yoke of a plane.  He could barely contain his excitement while waiting for Grandpa to do the check ride in the plane before taking William up.









He was so excited, he even forgot he hates to have me take his picture and smiled from ear to ear, revealing all kinds of metal and dimples.













Once the check-ride was complete, William, Grandpa, Bill and Romney took to the sky. Though the morning had been stormy, the luckiest boy on the planet struck again as the clouds parted and allowed a perfect weather window for the birthday boy to have a chance to fulfill his dream.
Concen- trating hard, William was a pro. He was a quick learner and a conscien- tious pilot.  He quickly got the hang of how to keep the plane level without too much effort and had a blast zipping around. He got to fly over the state capitol and find his house from the air.  He got to head over Lagoon and see all the rides from above.  They look a lot like toys from that perspective. He was so happy after his hour was up. "I didn't even kill anyone!" He exclaimed jokingly. You can tell he had two happy passengers who loved having William pilot them around town.