I don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional way, given I’m Romanian; we don’t have it in our culture. However, living in America, I do celebrate it in a different way: most of the time with my other Romanian friends in New York. We usually gather around a table of turkey eats and other dishes, we all made/brought. Some offer to cook, others bring the drinks. But two years ago, we skipped all that and we went to Miami instead. My friend, Andrei, whom everyone knows by Andy, had founded the Fly for MS organization, that flew MS patients over their respective cities. Offering scenic views to people otherwise incapable of seeing them was surely uplifting and made them forget about their illness for a little while. Back in 2010, the Fly for MS Cessna plane was available, so a few of us, and Andy’s canine adorable companion, went along.
For the first leg of the trip, I was lucky to be in the copilot’s seat. I could see the surreal clouds line up before my eyes, with the sun proudly leading the way. It was both incredibly thrilling and scary, at the same time; when we entered clouds, and were unable to see, it certainly felt like we were in a tiny six-person aircraft.
We made a short stop in North Carolina for fuel; at least, that’s what we intended. However, the short stop turned into a few hours of food hunting around a deserted town. We did not have a proper Thanksgiving dinner; we had junk food instead. Everything was closed, and the closest thing to the traditional turkey meal was Walmart’s buffet.
Flying over Miami, the coast looked beautiful. On clear sunny skies, it couldn’t have been a better time to fly. We also flew over Key West and other islands and scenic landscapes.
It was really fun to be with the girls; they particularly enjoyed Andy’s stunts of plunging downwards towards zero gravity. As for myself … not so much; I felt like my stomach had fell to the bottom.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVQBUCarSA&feature=youtu.be]
As it turns out, it only took us a day to get to Miami 🙂 with all the delays – stopping for fuel, catching a bite to eat and following the weather report – by the time we reached our destination, we were more than exhausted.
The landing was as smooth as it could be, and Andy proved to be an excellent pilot.
Have you ever spent the holidays other than with your family? Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends, wherever you may be!
For more info on Fly for MS and its extraordinary mission reach, please visit www.flyforms.org
