He really did it for me too, still does with that crooked grin of his

I grew up next to a GA field, spent hours hanging out there, washed airplanes and took rides with the nice old guys around there, but didn't dare tell my parents, they would have freaked! My first ever ride was in a G model Staggerwing, still the best flight I've ever had. I was definitely not like all my girlfriends, who wanted to hang at the mall...whenever a plane flew over I had a very hard time not looking up...especially if it was something old with a big round engine. The only time I ever dared to mention wanting to be a pilot I was probably about 9 or 10, the old guys laughed at me, told me I was too short (I was a little kid!) and that an airline would never hire a woman, and if they did I would have to be a pee-on in the right seat forever, which meant I wouldn't get to fly. I guess that stuck with me. One of those old guys gave me a job when I was in high school, so I worked my way through college working at his flight school, started as the dispatcher, then managed the place, then as I grew the business for him, took on managing his friends' Sabreliner and Westwind, then added others for charter. Since most of my college was paid for by scholarships I'd earned, I took a cut in salary in exchange for free flight lessons. When I had earned my degree in Computer Engineering, then Masters in Robotics, my celebration was to treat myself to a Citation rating. I was supposed to go to work for Disney as an Imagineer. It was at my final interview that the interviewer was very curious about my background in aviation and I told him about it. He asked why I didn't try to become a professional pilot if I loved flying so much, and when I told him that I thought it was a field not open to women. He told me that he was surprised that I let those old guys convince me of such nonsense, because to get as far as to even be considered for a position as an Imagineer, showed that I certainly had determination, persistence and brains. He told me that Imagineers take dreams and ideas and MAKE them happen, even when they are impossible...so he told me to go MAKE my dream of being a pilot happen, and if after six months I couldn't do it, come back and he would give me the job. He sent me to talk to some of the company pilots, and with some guidance and help from them, I got a break and worked my butt off to where I am now. I called him up six months to the day of that interview and thanked him profusely for not hiring me! The day that I flew in to my old airport, I let tower know who I was early on...the whole lot of them were standing there, mouths hanging wide open, when I walked down the steps of a Falcon 50EX, with 4 bars!! I am working on buying that Staggerwing now!

It really does matter what we say to young kids, even the little comments we think are silly- they don't always realize that we are joking around...don't ever forget that they look up to us. I wasted a lot of time walking with my eyes turned skyward instead of being there.