In that quiet space between the waves, the chaos, and the noise… I would see myself. The young girl standing barefoot in the field who loved so deeply but was too shy to spread her arms wide.
The one who learned over time and heartache she was actually worth it. I wish I could say I was always confident, but I wasn’t. I was a shy girl, a late bloomer, a free spirit lost in a fast-paced world. My childhood was happy. It was the 1980s and I would stay out all day in the summer having free reign riding bikes, running through sprinklers, slip-n-slides, playing Star Wars, and going to block parties.
I grew up in middle-class suburbia with my four siblings in a loving home, but my world was turned upside down when my dad, a pilot, was killed when a plane he was flying crashed. My soul would become devastated.
The introvert in me appeared to pull me into the depths of my emotions where I found peace. My family life became a tale of ‘everyone for themselves’ as I struggled through my teenage years and learned to survive.
I began my journey in the search for answers. A search for life, a search for me, a quest to find me. That 12-year-old girl became a 22-year-old girl; wide-eyed with a private pilot’s license on the 10 year anniversary of my dad’s death.
That path led me to fly the sister ship of my dad’s at the same airport he suffered his crash, and where I would meet someone who would try to crush my very soul.
