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“Thorn or as treasured friend”--or both, variously! What a beautiful thought.

That is the important unstated bit--with God, all things are possible. One need not despair, as long as we trust in Him!

Thanks, David!

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Wow, that is quite a story.

In 1971 when I was fourteen my father's boss who was quite wealthy decided to purchase a new airplane. I was invited to come along for multiple test flights. I sat at the Quakertown airport and tagged along on test flights of a Piper Aztec, Cesena 310 and a few more. I was in awe.

My father came close to purchasing a small airplane of his own. It turns out PA law allows a fourteen old to have a pilot license even before you can get a driver's license. A deal of the sale was to teach both of us to fly. He never bought the plane, but I did get one flying lesson.

Your tale, caused me to remember this very fond memory, it is now on my backlog of stories to tell.

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Happy to have occasioned this fond memory! You can get a pilots license before you can drive?! Amazing way to get to school if you have the Chutzpah for it! Thank you for reading!

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That story took a turn. I like that it ends on a hopeful note.

Even though I don't dream of becoming a pilot, I do dream of traveling with my family around the world. Europe and South America first, everything else would be a bonus.

I do like to fly, even though airplane seats have ridiculously shrunk over the years. Aisle seat for me, please.

And the best airplane food I've had has been served by British Airways on a flight from Chicago to Rome when my wife and I were en route to our honeymoon. I don't remember the specifics but I do remember that every few hours we would be offered wine, snacks and even ice cream. 10/10 would fly again.

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God can take away a lot from us but Job shows that if we trust in Him then our dreams aren't for nothing--even if they are no longer attainable. I like to think it's a hopeful ending too.

Agreed about the Aisle seat--I have two sisters so they always got first pick on planes and I always ended up with the window seat. This despite being taller and *also* afraid of heights. Such is life!

That sounds amazing. I would have answered "a turkey calzone" from one of my family trips, but yours sounds much better. Wine, snacks, ice cream--what's not to like!

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Beautiful story, Scoot.

'I don't know why, but that old dream still gives me hope,' carries a such a beautiful truth: we are creatures of dreams and illusions, and we need to grab them and pull ourselves by them, even if they are unrealistic. A man without dreams is no man at all.

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Thank you, JP, and well said! Its weird to think that our dreams might be impossible while at the same time thinking its important we have them--but youre right, its as essential to us as the air we breathe.

Been processing a lot of “life not going according to plan” stuff and this was a consoling take to write on the theme!

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A great story, Scoot! Wish I could fly, absolutely! Back in the day, Leonardo could have been gluing feathers on me as a test pilot!

and I do like the salty, honey peanuts!

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