The Wings

Last week Matt travelled to Fort Rucker, Alabama, home of Army Aviation, to participate in his brother's flight school graduation. Due to the fact that tickets for our family of four would cost a small fortune, the boys and I were not able to go with him.  While I was really disappointed for myself, I was so glad that Matt was able to go.  Army training schedules don't always coordinate with important life events, so the fact that we were in the US, Matt was not in training, and he was able to take leave was a fabulous blessing.

Nearly 11 years ago I pinned silver wings on Matt.  There we were in the Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker.  I was about 6 months pregnant with Eli.  I pinned Matt while his mom, dad, my parents, my cousin, Matt's sister, step-parents, and friends looked on. After a year of training, and a lifetime of dreaming, he was finally, officially a pilot! And off we went to Fort Campbell, KY to begin Matt's career as an Army Aviator.

Last week Matt flew to Alabama with those same wings I pinned on him.  Matt earned his Senior Aviator Wings a few years ago, but held on to his junior wings to one day pass on to someone else.
He hoped a crew chief would cross his path and one day Matt could pass the wings on to a young soldier making the transition to pilot, just as he did.
He could have never guessed that the young soldier who would earn his wings, would be his little brother.  His brother joined the Army to be a pilot, so his route to the wings was a little different but the mentoring still existed.  There were numerous days when Matt would talk to his brother in flight school, advising him on all things Army and flight school related.
Matt had planned to pin the wings on his brother, but after nearly a year to think about it, he decided that the job to pin the wings should actually fall to his brother's wife.  Our sister-in-law thought that Matt was pinning his brother, but the night before the graduation Matt presented her with a box containing the wings.  He explained to her, his brother, and all the family present that these wings had been passed on to him, and now he has the honor to pass them on.  He said that he realized it is his brother's wife's journey too, and that she should pin her husband.
I wasn't there, but apparently there were a whole lot of tears involved.
What happened next is simply beautiful.
Our sister-in-law was moved that Matt offered her the wings but as a true Army wife, she also understood the importance of honor and tradition.  It was decided that Matt would carry his wings to the stage, hand them to his brother's wife and then she would pin her husband.

I just realized if I had started this whole post with actual names instead of familial titles, it would have been a lot easier.

So there they were at the Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama, Matt handing over the wings, his brother standing at attention, and his brother's wife about 9 months pregnant pinning the wings on his chest.  And within a few days they too were off to Fort Campbell, Ky to begin their lives in Army Aviation.

And they all lived happily ever after... or something like that.

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