Mamaw takes flight

My grandmother, who is 79, has only flown once in her life. She was a child of 7 or 8 and hopped aboard a family friend's crop duster for a quick trip around a field. And that was that.

To put this into perspective, she has no knowledge of commercial flight. She's never been into an airport, never seen the inside of a plane. Her perceptions of air travel weren't altered a bit by the events of September 11, because she had no personal experience to draw upon.

But next week this will all change.

My 79-year-old grandmother will hop aboard a plane in Dallas bound for Alaska. She'll stay there for two weeks while visiting my parents, who summer there every year.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall of that plane's cabin. I can hardly fathom how excited/nervous/eager she must be and what that flight will be like for her.

My uncle will join her for the flight, so she'll have an arm to squeeze or an ear to bend as she flies.

Maybe he'll have the better story to tell, now that I think about it!