The Captain Knew Me Before the Passenger Did

out a small plastic set of wings, the kind they hand to kids visiting the cockpit. On the back, in blue ink, he’d written:

Still scared. Still learning.

I laughed so hard I had to stop moving for a second.

He pressed the wings into my hand.

I tucked them into my blazer pocket next to the Distinguished Flying Cross pin and headed up the jet bridge, slow continue reading …