100,000AAdvantagemiles
foryour thoughts
Emailusat
, and ifyour letter ispublished in
a2015 issue, you’llbeentered intoadrawing towin100,000AAdvantagemiles
TheGift ofLife
Reading theAugust“Editor’sNote,”“Wick-
edWisdom,”bringsme toself-reflection
about thechangesIhaveexperienced in
myown lifeasIentermymid-50s. Ihave
surrendered toadifferentbodyandgained
some intellectualgrowth.Themost impor-
tant thingAdamPitlukpointsout ishow
peoplestayverymuch thesame.Thisreally
hithome forme.Ourpersonalitiesseem
tobealmostuntouchedby thepassingof
time.Happy,kindpeople tend toagekind
andhappy,while theangry folksdeepen in
theirstrife.Wearewhoweare:Ourbodies
age,ourbrains learn,butourcoreessences
remain thesame;ourspiritsstayunique to
each individual trueself.That is thegift life
offersuswhenweenter theworld.
MonikaRafizadeh
Seattle
EditorAdamPitlukResponds:
Veryprofound
email,Monika. Letmeupdate you since I wrote that
column: I went tomy 20-year high school reunion,
andmy theoryproved correct. Thebeautiful
people from thepast—whowerebeautiful on the
inside— are still beautiful on the inside and the
outside. Theoneswhowere jerks, well, I’mgoing to
try to staypositive.
PickPocket
Ihaveahabitof taking
AmericanWay
out
of theseatbackpocketat takeoffand then
takingpicturesof thearticles…and then
still taking themagazinehome.This time,
thepictureIhad to takewasAdam’sre-
sponse to the letter fromDougSmithabout
arrivingatDCA tovisithisyoungdaugh-
ter,only toencounteranAAHonorTeam
whowerebringinga fallenveteranhome.
Adam’sresponsesharedaspecial storyof
grandparents,whichmademe teary.Asa
child, theexcitementofaplane triponce
ayear tovisitmygrandparentswas the
biggest thrill.Whatcouldbemorespecial
thaneating lunch in theskysurroundedby
cloudson theway tovisitpeoplewho loved
meand treatedme toeverythingmyheart
desired?Really,nothingwasmorespecial
thangettingaweekayear inperson toget
toknow them. Ionlywishmygrandparents
wereashortflightawaynow.Asabusiness
traveler, it’seasy togetannoyed,butnot
me. Iamhappywe live in timeswhen it’s
easier tobringpeople together.Life isa
journey.Treasure thespecialmoments.Oh,
andIdidn’tfinishreading thewhole issue,
so it’scominghomewithme.
AnneT.Stone
Stow,Massachusetts
A.P.Responds:
Treasure the specialmoments,
indeed,Anne. I think that our emotions arenot only
heightenedon aplane, but wedo someof our best
thinkingwhile in the air. Personally, I domybest
writingup there. In the last seven years of being the
editor of thismagazine, probably80percent ofmy
columnswerewrittenon aplane. Looks like youdo
someprettydarngoodwritingwhile in transit as
well.Many thanks for thenote.
AChangeofSubject
AdamPitluk’scolumn“WickedWisdom”
mademerecallarecentembarrassing
incident. Iwas in lineatarestaurantwhen
arather largegentlemanapproachedme
andsaid, “John! Ihaven’tseenyou inyears.
Howareyou?”Iwasata lossas towho
hewas, andwhenhe toldmehisname,
I immediatelyrecalled the tall, skinny,
long-hairedkid thatIhadknownsome30
yearsago. Iwassoshockedat thewayhis
appearancediffered frommymemories
thatIblurtedout, “[Wow],Joe, youreally
gaineda lotofweightsinceIsawyou last!”
Hiswarmand friendlysmile turnedquickly
toa frown, andhesaid“[Wow],John, you
looka lotolder than the last timeIsaw
you.”Imumbledsomethingaboutbeing
sorryandgotoutof thereas fastasIcould,
feeling like thebiggest jerk in theworld. It
mademerealize thatI, too,haveprobably
changedsincehighschool, inspiteof the
fact thatI feel thesame. Inan ironic twist
of fate, I foundoutrecently thatJoe isnow
datingmyex-wife (wewereall in thesame
class inhighschool). Iwonderhow the
otherpeople inourclasshavechanged.
JohnDaugherty
Poland,Ohio
A.P.Responds:
This is thebest andworst letter
I’veever read, John.Goodof you toown your
words. Theguy is dating your ex-wife?Ohboy.
AIRMAIL
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FROM
LEFT
:
Seattle toDallas (KristanaKane);
SanFrancisco toMexico (EddieRothTW@E_Ro3)
AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER2015
17
