We were living our best life. We had adventures and stories, music and songs. We dreamed dreams, and we had so much love. We held out knowing at some point the tide would change in our favor.
That change of tide ebbs and flows. There were seasons and chapters in our story since then. I decided to do the craziest thing at 38 years old and leave a stable job to fly for the airlines. Single moms just don’t do that, right?
But along the path of healing, this girl found herself on a grass field with a little 65 horsepower Piper Cub. With bare feet and her children looking on, she took to the skies and returned home again.
Their mom who had thought she packed away the dream of aviation had come back to see it was waiting for her and knew one day she would make her way to the skies again. As I shut down the engine and the propeller stopped, I could hear my kids yelling, ‘Mommy!’ with their arms stretched wide.
They came running full force into my arms. Flying was not selfish, nor was I. I was not broken or lost but was forever found in love.
Since that day I have gone on to work for a regional career with American Eagle (Envoy). Flying has given my children and me the opportunity to have adventures as we continue to lean in as a team and as a tribe.
Recognizing that we are not missing anything, we are imperfectly perfect the way we are. On the road to following my heart, my children got their mom back. How could I teach them to pursue their dreams if I was not pursuing mine?
We have found a sidekick to our adventures, and fortunate to have found a Mary Poppins of a nanny who magically travels with us on this adventurous life. Together we dream bigger, live bigger, and make certain to seize each and every day.
As Robin Williams said, ‘You must strive to find your own voice because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all.’
**This story was written by Marissa Guilford and originally appeared on Love What Matters. Follow her on Instagram here.
