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Before Taking Over the Controls 2010 Janet Kuypers (poetry converted to prose)     one of the times I went to D.C., I was taking a friend there to see the town because this 5' 6" woman was about to go into surgery to remove a cyst in on of her ovaries the size of a softball. well, a friend was driving us to o’hare airport but before we got on the road I picked up a small Domino’s pizza and as we started driving along the kennedy, we agreed that the best bite in any slice of pizza is always that center point bite... so we agreed then and there to eat the center bites of all of the triangles of pizza before we went on to eat more pizza before our flight.     and you know, another time I was flying to New Orleans on a business trip, and one coworker was scheduled to fly with me. now, this coworker was a cute-as-a-button girl from Kentucky, and she was a riot to hang around with and she was deathly afraid of flying. and I knew her fear, so I brought (back before 9/11, when you could bring water or soda into an airport with no problem) a 32 ounce plastic cup from a fast food joint filled with hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps. she said she was afraid so I told her to enjoy some drink before we get on the plane. and she ordered beers on the plane, and as I knew we were landing I started telling her jokes, and keeping her enthralled until I finally told her we landed, and she made it, and everything was okay     I’m used to flying in airplanes for big events... even if the events are actually flying an airplane. right before New Year’s in Southwest Florida, getting trained, photographing the view from the clouds before taking over the controls. or going up in a plane in Longmont Colorado with no side door and a parachute strapped to my back until someone tells you okay, we’re up 12,500 feet now, it’s time to start moving. and you waddle to the open door, hold on to the fast-moving airplane for a second for dear life, then let go.     I’ve flown for family. flown to marry people in a wedding. flown for vacations. flown for my mother’s cremation. it’s amazing that sometimes the trip can be a story, but wait for the flight to land ” because that’s when the real story can start. Also look for thie writing in the poetry section of the Janet Kuypers poetry vaults, to see this writing with different line breaks. Copyright © 2010 Janet Kuypers. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission.