I'm not giving away too much, gosh maybe I am. On the other hand, think of Amelia researching herself; reading her biographies and the one her sister wrote. Wandering through the world remade. Ending up here of all places. . . so conveniently situated, right next door to an airport. Taking lessons. Getting back into the cockpit. But by day earning a living, eating in a diner, sleeping at a Y, planning and waiting and planning.
A woman who never took 'no' for an answer. And never looked too hard at what was pushing her, because why look when what you got for it was being Amelia.
We're made differently now. We move from the inside out. Our language is chock full of psychoanalytic jargon. Not a bad thing, not a good thing, a thing. She's in this world and the world matters. Wherever you live, whatever you see, everything you encounter makes you who you are. She's remaking herself and she can't stay the same. It's just not possible, we have to believe that we're mutable beings. Woody Allen said it once comically, sharks move or they die and what we have here is a dead shark. I still believe that human beings can change given a good enough reason. I believe that's part of what makes us special. I may often sound cynical, but I do hope. My father was an idealist, a dreamer, and I suppose that's where I get it from.
Anyway, here dear reader, a museum of sorts, a shrine to flight. . .
What does it say on the building? What does it say underneath "Aviation Hall of Fame"? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteand museum of New Jersey, first in the nation. Also the garden state, though some have doubts about that.
ReplyDeleteConcerning Amelia reading about herself: if I were an undead famous person I might drive myself nuts trying to answer every silly misconception and allegation that's ever been made about me. In her case, maybe by writing letters to the editor (using her fictitious name) every time an article about her is published in an aviation history magazine, and maybe writing a few articles of her own. Then after awhile I might realize that I'm on a fool's errand. You can't control what everyone thinks of you. Influence, yes, control, no. So I might just let it go and trust to the long-term processes of historical research to eventually get my story more or less right.
ReplyDeleteOr better yet, wrong the way you wanted it to be wrong. I think of her as someone who doesn't waste time, she's a doer, so she's doing. But someone else would probably waste lots of time, say . . . me?
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