A Ride with Amelia Earhart

You know those moments that define your life?  When you do something for the first time and forever after you tell that story?  I believe, for my grandpa Leo, that moment was when he got to ride in an airplane, for the first time, with Amelia Earhart.  Grandpa Leo was a quiet man, not prone to telling his stories but he told that story to his children and grandchildren.  He was about 19, and already interested in airplanes, when Amelia Earhart came to an airport nearby, probably the York Airport.  I believe she was raising money for her flight around the world and she would come and give rides for a fee. Someone grandpa knew put up the money for him to take that ride, and a love of flying was born.  Grandpa later got his pilot’s license and he owned several planes in his lifetime.  He had to have been a bit of a daredevil, as flying wasn’t very safe back then.  Stories I have heard is that he liked to roll, skim the ground (while his friends shot at coyotes), and do other stunts.  By the time I came along he didn’t have a plane and he didn’t fly but he did own a motorcycle and he took me for a ride once.  I could tell, when he was out on that bike, he felt free.  I can imagine that is how he felt while flying.  And I bet that when grandpa was out on his tractor doing the work of a farmer he dreamed about his time in the air.

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