My mom and dad got to fly over Urbana in the Grimes Flying Lab plane, which was used to test and demonstrate airplane lights made by Grimes Manufacturing Company (now known as Honeywell) in Urbana. After sitting in an abandoned field for 14 years or so, a team of volunteers has spent the better part of a decade restoring this historic plane at Grimes Field Urbana Municipal Airport.
My mom and dad grew up in Urbana and remember watching this plane fly over the city in their younger years. So when the plane began restoration, you better believe I heard all about its history/function/purpose/updates/etc. My dad has always had a healthy obsession with planes--we had an annual father-daughter trip to the United States Air Force Museum every winter for as long as I can remember--so he loved that this amazing little plane was being restored right in his hometown. During special events, the airport would open the hangar containing the Flying Lab and let people take a closer look at the progress on the plane. And in recent years, the Flying Lab has been known to do a Labor Day fly-over at Indian Lake, just north of Urbana. With all of this history, it's no surprise that my dad has always been a fan, and has longingly dreamed of riding in that plane.
Well, yesterday was that day. But how?
My mom works in a family practice in Urbana, which means she knows pretty much every resident of the small city who visits the doctor. Every time a volunteer from the airport would come in, my mom would bat her eyelashes and say, "Oh, you work on the Flying Lab? My husband loves that plane, and he would love to ride in it. Would that ever be possible?"
And the volunteer would say, "Well sure, but you would need to talk to Mr. So-and-So."
So my mom would follow up, and that person couldn't authorize a flight or was no longer a volunteer or some other dead end would get in her way.
But my mom didn't get discouraged. She asked every single volunteer who came through the doctors' office, and finally connected with the right person (who, as it turns out, lives across the street from my parents--who knew?) He put my dad's name on a list and said he would call my mom when his number came up. We were excited, but we weren't getting our hopes up. My dad keeps a rigorous work schedule, and we weren't even sure how long the list was! We kept the whole thing a secret from my dad, just in case it didn't work out.
Miraculously, my mom got the call last night and quickly had to come up with a story to get him to the airport. She decided to call my dad and say that she had had some "business" to attend to at the airport, but when she went to leave, her car wouldn't start. My dad was a little suspicious of the whole story, but still stopped at home to get his battery charger and jumper cables before dutifully driving out to the airport to retrieve my mom. When he arrived, my dad was ready to get to work on the car, but my mom was standing watching the planes. The Flying Lab was out and ready to go, so she casually said, "We can go take a look inside that plane, if you want." To which my dad replied, "Oh I've already seen the inside." (Of course.) And then my mom said something like, "Wouldn't it be great to take a ride in that plane someday?"
By this point my dad had figured out that he wasn't there to jump my mom's car, but he was still in disbelief that he would actually get to fly in the Flying Lab. They made their way across the tarmac, and before he knew it, they were BOTH getting in the plane--that's right, my mom got to ride along too! They flew for about half an hour above Champaign County and took lots of pictures--I snagged these from their Facebook pages:
It was undoubtedly the best surprise my mom has ever given my dad, and it's all because she asked a simple question. Even after hearing "no" a couple of times, she didn't give up. She knew there was no harm in asking, and she wasn't afraid to try a bunch of different angles until she found one that worked. As awesome as the flight itself was, I am most impressed with my mom's courage and perseverance. This whole story reminds me of the subject of one of my favorite books--Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want, by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. This book discusses the importance of negotiation, which begins by asking for what you want. Negotiation isn't easy for anyone, but I have found that women especially struggle with it, because they don't want to appear too demanding or needy or selfish. As a result, many women don't get what the fully deserve; they don't get their raise, they miss out on experiences, etc., all because they don't ask.
I know my mom has never read this book, but in this case, she seems to be quite the expert on its content. Way to go, momma! Thanks to you, you guys had the ride of a lifetime, and you should be proud of that.
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