Most people know that my father had a license to fly before he had a license to drive, and that he bought his first plane, a Piper Cub, at age 16 -- the first of a number of planes he would own.
As a kid, getting in a plane was as familiar to me as getting in a car.
I loved flying with my dad.
I grew up thinking my Montana Grandmas lived only five hours away from Paine Field in Everett, because we would load up on ginger snaps, fall asleep in my dad's Cessna 210, and wake up 900 miles away.
Sometimes my mom would allow my dad to let us push the steering wheel in, then pull it out, sending us soaring up and down through cumulus clouds, making our stomachs rise and fall, rise and fall.
Even more fun for us (but surely not for them) were forced landings, which would be turned into eating adventures, snow adventures, or motel swimming adventures.
One time we had to land in The Dalles because of bad weather. We were walking around town trying to find something to eat when my dad said, "Let Marjie choose where to eat. She will find a good place."
I'm not sure how he knew this, but I did -- I found the best place, establishing myself as the official family food finder at the age of eleven. Years before restaurant reviews were ubiquitous, I discovered a German potato soup in Eugene that became a family obsession, a whole fried fish in Sayulita, Mexico that altered everything, and a thin crust pizza place in Glasgow, Montana that years later flew their pizzas all over the country.
Eventually I expanded past the job with my family--and, well, most of you know about that.
Anyway, I have always loved using my talent to find tastes my dad would enjoy.
One time I brought a Pork Chop John's sandwich home for him on the plane from Butte; another time I smuggled mangosteens back from Vietnam because the risk of a $500 fine was nothing compared to the importance of my dad tasting my new favorite fruit. (I did not get fined.) The most successful Christmas and birthday gifts from me to him were always food-related.
I got to tell my dad about this trip before he passed, and, of course, he was excited for me; he knew I needed to be in foreign places tasting new things as much as he needed to be in the air.
This is a lovely nod and a lovely picture. ❤️
ReplyDeleteNot cool making me cry in the morning right before a video call, Marjie.
ReplyDelete