home.
She had retired from active flight testing many years earlier, after a long career that had included both triumphs and losses. She had watched friends leave for dangerous test flights and return changed. She had attended memorials. She had learned to respect the difference between courage and recklessness.
After retirement, she taught, consulted, and occasionally assisted aviation safety organizations with historical reviews and training.
Then she grew older.
Her hair turned gray.
Her hands developed the fine lines of age.
And strangers began offering to carry her bags without
