How it all began
During my forties, I’d had a couple of close calls with cancer and I didn’t know whether I was going to make it or not!! Consequently, my 50th birthday saw me organising two events, my funeral and my Birthday! Thank goodness I beat the cancer and had a wonderful party. Three years later I found out that I had a neurological problem that affects my balance and co-ordination. So I made a list of all the things I really wanted to do before getting about became too difficult. I must admit that flying wasn’t on the agenda! The closest was Falconry, I wanted to take my grandson to Disney world, and I really fancied feeding a tiger!
As I faced the fact that I was probably going to have to retire from work early, I looked around some activity that could be exciting; a challenge that could take the place of my first love, teaching and that would take my mind off my health problems. It had to be something that did not take a lot of energy, be manageable from a wheelchair and be a bit outrageous. Stamp collecting just didn’t fit the bill.
It occurred to me that I had once gave my husband a flying lesson for his birthday, and in the theory that we normally by others the things that we really like to have ourselves, I thought I’d give it a try. My family love me dearly and I had put them through enough worry, over the last few years, so I decided to do this in secret
The thing about turning 50, was for the first time in my life I stopped worrying about what other people thought of me. It was an Epiphany! I figured if they didn’t like me now they never would. My experience had been that despite half a lifetime of trying to please people, I was never able to make people that didn’t like me change their minds so I stopped trying!.
Not having to worry about what other people thought of me enabled me to think about what I wanted to do. And sometimes when I was sick, I felt very tired and old, but for the most part I feel just as I did when I was 20. (I think that’s the same for most people) I have never thought about getting old, my stubbornness revolved around getting the most out of life I possibly could. Sitting around waiting for the inevitable to happen is just a waist of time.
After a few flying lessons I decided that this was exactly what I wanted to do, but flying is terribly expensive, and it would talk me years to get a licence, A colleague told me about a charity that offered flying lessons for the disabled and of course I applied. Then I lost my mother very suddenly and I flying became very low on the agenda.
Imagine my surprise, 6 months later, when I got the news that I had been short listed and I had to go to RAF Cranwell to be assessed for my suitability.
Imaging my family’s surprise when I had to tell them that not only had I been taking flying lessons in secret but there was a real possibility of me getting a flying scholarship - 6 weeks in South Africa studying for a pilot’s licence.
There were100 applicants and 24 of us were short listed and 10 scholarships awarded. I felt very lucky to be in the presence of such courage, every one of us had a story to tell, most much worse than mine, and although desperate to be chosen, we all wanted each other to succeed. When the call came I was speechless, I had been awarded a full scholarship and would be going to South Africa in August to learn to fly. My family are still in a state of shock, they are proud of me, but totally bemused by the whole thing. I think they have accepted that living with me is never easy and always a bit of an adventure.
As for the Falcons - they are in the diary for next month. The Tigers and Disney world is going to have to wait till next year.
Judith Margolis 1st May 2006
During my forties, I’d had a couple of close calls with cancer and I didn’t know whether I was going to make it or not!! Consequently, my 50th birthday saw me organising two events, my funeral and my Birthday! Thank goodness I beat the cancer and had a wonderful party. Three years later I found out that I had a neurological problem that affects my balance and co-ordination. So I made a list of all the things I really wanted to do before getting about became too difficult. I must admit that flying wasn’t on the agenda! The closest was Falconry, I wanted to take my grandson to Disney world, and I really fancied feeding a tiger!
As I faced the fact that I was probably going to have to retire from work early, I looked around some activity that could be exciting; a challenge that could take the place of my first love, teaching and that would take my mind off my health problems. It had to be something that did not take a lot of energy, be manageable from a wheelchair and be a bit outrageous. Stamp collecting just didn’t fit the bill.
It occurred to me that I had once gave my husband a flying lesson for his birthday, and in the theory that we normally by others the things that we really like to have ourselves, I thought I’d give it a try. My family love me dearly and I had put them through enough worry, over the last few years, so I decided to do this in secret
The thing about turning 50, was for the first time in my life I stopped worrying about what other people thought of me. It was an Epiphany! I figured if they didn’t like me now they never would. My experience had been that despite half a lifetime of trying to please people, I was never able to make people that didn’t like me change their minds so I stopped trying!.
Not having to worry about what other people thought of me enabled me to think about what I wanted to do. And sometimes when I was sick, I felt very tired and old, but for the most part I feel just as I did when I was 20. (I think that’s the same for most people) I have never thought about getting old, my stubbornness revolved around getting the most out of life I possibly could. Sitting around waiting for the inevitable to happen is just a waist of time.
After a few flying lessons I decided that this was exactly what I wanted to do, but flying is terribly expensive, and it would talk me years to get a licence, A colleague told me about a charity that offered flying lessons for the disabled and of course I applied. Then I lost my mother very suddenly and I flying became very low on the agenda.
Imagine my surprise, 6 months later, when I got the news that I had been short listed and I had to go to RAF Cranwell to be assessed for my suitability.
Imaging my family’s surprise when I had to tell them that not only had I been taking flying lessons in secret but there was a real possibility of me getting a flying scholarship - 6 weeks in South Africa studying for a pilot’s licence.
There were100 applicants and 24 of us were short listed and 10 scholarships awarded. I felt very lucky to be in the presence of such courage, every one of us had a story to tell, most much worse than mine, and although desperate to be chosen, we all wanted each other to succeed. When the call came I was speechless, I had been awarded a full scholarship and would be going to South Africa in August to learn to fly. My family are still in a state of shock, they are proud of me, but totally bemused by the whole thing. I think they have accepted that living with me is never easy and always a bit of an adventure.
As for the Falcons - they are in the diary for next month. The Tigers and Disney world is going to have to wait till next year.
Judith Margolis 1st May 2006
posted by judith | 10:17 PM
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