i’d risk the fall just to know how to fly. . .

You know, it’s kind of hard to say which parent I got my creativeness from. It’s pretty easy to see that my artist genes came from my dad, but my imagination and no limit style came straight from mom. Honestly, even as I’m typing this I’m rolling my eyes because it’s difficult for me to choose which parent I get the most of one thing from. They both have accomplished similar things. They are both pilots, extremely intelligent, and both creative in their own rights. BUT since it’s Mom’s birthday today I will give her the spotlight. She is 51 years old today. (I’m legit texting her right now to confirm this. For some reason my parents are stuck at the age 35 in my mind. After those birthdays I lost track and have to ask or do the math… every year.) When I tell you our personalities are like oil and water… I. AM. NOT. LYING. We butt heads a lot. I think this is typical of mother daughter relationships, but there’s no way to sugar coat ours.

To be completely honest, it wasn’t until I became pregnant with Ryan Kate that I found a new level of respect for her. It is hard being a mom. I get that now. There are sacrifices you have to make and looking back I can see several that she made for my brother and I that I never saw before becoming a mother myself. Mom is the definition of a feminist. Her picture is right there beside the definition. I know that because I have to look in the dictionary every time she speaks. I never know the huge words she uses. Ok, not every time, but a lot and thankfully I’ve learned how to use context clues. Thank God for Google too! I’m not exaggerating. She is freaking brilliant. Right now she works for some company doing some important thing that I don’t understand. I could probably call her and get her to spell out what she does, but really all you need to know is that she is super smart AND that she is still in the aviation field. Mom got her degree in Aviation from Louisiana Tech. She was a young mother and wife during that time, but she didn’t let that stop her from pursuing her dream of becoming a pilot. Not only did she not let that stop her, but she didn’t let the huge factor of aviation being a male dominated field stand in her way either. It makes me extremely proud to tell people she is a pilot. IMG_20170923_0001 I think my strong will of doing and becoming who I want to roots back to being raised by her. She taught to me be independent and to not rely on a man at a very early age. See there is her feminist trait rearing up again. I am extremely grateful for those lessons though. It has gotten me to where I am now. I will do everything in my power to pass that down to Ryan Kate as well… not that it will be hard to do. Just look at her. lol You know how they say some genetic traits skip a generation? Well I’m pretty positive that personalities do too. Before my Nana (mom’s mom) past away last year she told me that Ryan Kate acts just like Mom did as a child. I didn’t really agree until now. Ryan Kate has the biggest imagination. Sometimes when she tells me stories they sound just like stories Mom would tell my brother and I when we were little. I have a pretty good imagination myself, but I have to sit on stories and build them up as I go. Mom and Ryan Kate can just spit them out of the top of their heads like it’s as simple as breathing. So I’m not sure if the tradition is going to carry on with Ryan Kate’s and my relationship since she is so much like mom. Let’s hope for oil and vinegar?!In honor of Mom’s birthday I decided to take her pictures at the new Ruston Regional Airport. And I say “new” because she when she was flying in Ruston, 20 something years ago, the airport was at a different location. I probably could’ve bought her something that she’d really enjoy (like an encyclopedia or something smart people like), but I knew she would treasure these pictures since aviation is a main part of who she is. To be honest, I feel like it is a little of who I am too. I grew up flying all of the time with mom and loved every second of it. I kind of always thought at some point in my life I would get a pilots license too, but so far it hasn’t even been on my radar of things to do before I die. (According to my husbands fear of flying – I would die if I flew anywhere. So it may be my last dying wish.) I’d be lying if I said I didn’t leave the airport that day thinking about it though. I even shot a text to my dad and told him that. His response was, “It’s in your genes.” He isn’t kidding either. My mother, father, uncle, and grandfather are all pilots. Can you imagine if Ryan Kate grows up to be a pilot?! Part of me wants her to just so I can do a transformation side by side picture! Fly, baby, fly!