Stu and Birdie

On Stuart's fourth birthday, his parents threw a simple backyard party with bright yellow, green and blue balloons tied high above the patio table. His best buddy Wayne from next door, his Grandpa Paul, Aunt Debbie & Uncle Jim, and of course his baby sister Valerie were all there.

Paper cups of red punch were filled and slurped, and the proud centerpiece was a long white sheet cake lovingly baked the night before after Stuart was tucked into bed. A small wooden toy plane sat in the frosting with a wobbly runway made of black icing and sprinkles reaching across the rest of the cake. Instead of the typical Happy Birthday block letters, Stuart's mom felt quite clever when she wrote "Reach 4 The Clouds" in a swirling script with blue icing.

After the guests were gone and the cake pan only had crumb remnants, Stuart licked the frosting off the toy plane and flew it around the yard. The small plane soared over his head and made swooping dives toward the sleeping dog. It flew expertly between low tree branches and made harrowing landings down the backyard slide.

Stuart's love of planes grew through the years, with late-night flight adventure books hidden under the covers with a dim flashlight, and on his 13th birthday, a very special cockpit flight with his Grandpa's buddy left him smiling ear-to-ear for three straight days.

After decades of flying, first for the Navy as "Stu-Dog" and then safely traversing the American skies for many years, now at 67, he's content with the simple local sights and his trusty plane, Birdie.

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Photo by me. Story is fictional.

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