"Memories" by AlbuqRay

My mom was an amateur pilot and bookkeeper in an era when most women worked as housewives and did not fly airplanes. She was a member of the Women’s National Aeronautical Association (WNAA) and flew in their derbies out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She logged over 400 hours in her Ercoupe. One of her first flying derbies was with Dorothy Rice, the “flying grandmother.” They flew from Fort Smith to Memphis to St. Louis to Kansas City and finished in second place. She used to tell about another later derby (Oct 1952) when she got lost trying to avoid thunderheads. She was 8 months pregnant with her youngest son, Roger. The route was from Oklahoma City to Raton, NM, to Kansas City. She was following the river and had stopped in Woodward, OK. She then encountered a storm with huge thunderhead clouds. First, she tried to fly over the storm but decided it was too dangerous and she got scared. Recovering her senses, she landed in Clayton, NM. From there, she called home and my dad (he was a pilot too) came to Clayton and flew with her to Kansas City.

She was always pretty proud of "her boys." I cannot vouch for the oldest (me) but her other two sons have done some amazing things. My middle brother, Walt, has developed one of the most innovative programs for autistic children in the world using his Heath Board. The same technology has also been used to make a fun and exciting interactive creative tool, 1TTouch, where a user's touch and movement produces instant audio and/or visual responses (my son, David, writes the software).

My youngest brother, Roger, did survive my mom's flying adventures to later invent "hands-free" non-invasive cardiac defibrillation using his pacing "Combo-Pad" or "R2-Pad" electrodes. These are now a world-wide standard that has saved thousands of lives. BTW, this technology is what makes automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) possible. It was a good thing that that airport was there in Clayton, NM!

My Auntie Janet got to see 2006 for a few hours. Her twin, Joan on the right, had passed away at the age of 68. Auntie would have been 91 on January 23rd. She had a good life and we loved her. We'll miss Auntie and never forget her.

A long time ago (1938) in Trinidad, West Indies.