Is it a bird?

My little brother is 17. Not so little anymore, I guess. He'll be a senior in high school this year. He plays soccer. He's worked at camp with me for the last 3 or 4 summers. He likes video games and good movies. He has his driver's liscense. And now he's flying planes.

I still have a little trouble fathoming this. I used to change his diapers. I used to sing horrible renditions of "Silent Night" to him so he'd fall asleep in his car seat when he was crying in the car. I used to drop him off at kindergarten every day on my way to school. And now he's flying planes.

He had his cross-country solo flight today. He flew from Willow Run Airport to Coldwater, which happened to take him right over camp! He told his the approximate times to look for him and we were. And when I say, "we" I mean a lot of the camp staff. We all waved and I took pictures. I was surprised that I felt a little emotional. I think I was just amazed and proud that my little brother was flying a plane all by himself.

Here are the pictures I took this afternoon:

Watching for Uncle Jeff





The first fly over









Subsequent fly-overs

























Jeff ready for take off . . . but this picture was from a different day.