Earning My Wings

Definition of earned my wings in the Idioms Dictionary. earned my wings phrase. What does earned my wings expression mean? Definitions by the largest Idiom.
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Earning your wings - Idioms by The Free Dictionary

Like so many others before me, I fell in love with the romance of airplanes, adventure and helping others. I have flown hundreds of flights since graduation, but one stands out among the many. We were flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D. There, I found a young mother struggling with her infant. Everything was a mess, to say the least, and the mother, who was near hysterics, told me that she had no more diapers or other clothing onboard the aircraft.

earn (one's) wings

Through her tears, she informed me that they had missed their flight the previous night in Los Angeles and because she had very little money, she and her son had spent the night on the airport floor. With the saddest eyes I have ever seen she continued. She told me that she was on her way to New Hampshire to deliver her son to the family that was adopting him. She could no longer support the two of them. As she stood in front of me, crying, holding her beautiful son, I could see the despair and hopelessness on her face.

And, as a mother of three beautiful daughters, I could feel her pain. I immediately rang the flight attendant call button and asked for assistance from the other flight attendants.

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They brought cloth towels from first class to assist in cleaning up both mom and the infant. I ran and got my suitcase; because this woman and I were about the same size, I gave her a sweater and a pair of pants I had brought for my layover. Then I asked several families if they could spare extra diapers, formula and clothes for the child.

After the young mother and her son had changed their clothes and the baby had gone to sleep, I sat with her, holding her hand, trying to provide some support and comfort for the remainder of the flight. They will get a real kick out of her stories as she learns the ropes - what, exactly, being a military wife entails. Told with laugh-out-loud humor at times, thoughtful insight at other times, her book will thoroughly enlighten and entertain you.

For those folks never in the military, Shirley's book describes the lifestye of a military wife so well - the challenges of frequent moves, the chance to live in never-expected locations, the marvelous travel opportunites afforded and the chance to try new things, the joys of meeting new people and the lifelong friendships forged - all the things we take great pride in and the singular honor we feel and hold dear for having served our country in our roles as military wives.

Shirley has definitely earned her wings! Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. What a wonderful adventure. This is a beautiful love story and I am pleased she shared it with the world. We sometimes forget the wives who sacrifice and devote themselves to the man they love. If anyone wanted to take a journey of a life time; they should read Shirley Forgan's epic description of what it was like to be the wife of an Air Force fighter pilot; relocating 25 times in their Air Force career.

Shirley and her family's life is not for the faint hearted; many would prefer the quiet living in the same area all of their life; white picket fence; strong roots for the family and life long friends. But life is not 'a dress rehearsal'; it is the real thing and if anyone has probably gotten more out of life than most; it has to be Shirley. Shirley provides a well documented; very positive outlook on the constant moves and exciting locations of her Air Force adventure but as all military families know; the constant moving, putting their kids in different schools; new culture; can certainly have its challenges!

earn (one's) wings

But Shirley showed how one can maximize the positives of all of the relocations by absorbing all of the different cultures; whether it was at different locations in the states or the various overseas posts; Spain, Netherlands, Holland. I was especially intrigued to hear about the challenges of bringing up her boys, Bruce and Todd. You see, I was the 19 year old Little League coach that could have asked Bruce to walk into the ocean for me.

Not sure why; but from my recollection almost 40 years ago; Bruce was a delightful kid with great baseball skills and quite enjoyable to coach. Perhaps I was closer to his age that made the difference. But Shirley was spot on; the arrogant coach on page hope he doesn't read my review who had all of the great all-star players had the audacity to come to our practice before the big first game to tell our team that he thought we were the minor league as our players were so small as opposed to the major league ; he didn't realize that Bruce would shut his high and mighty team out on the first game.

I think everyone in the military should read Shirley's book; especially the spouses of military members!

Military life definitely has its challenges and stressors! Even more so for the military spouse! But no sooner than Shirley and Dave got settled in their new home; they were off again to a new location. In all of the upheaval, Shirley put the positive spin on each assignment and was rewarded immensely with numerous valued friends and memories to last a lifetime. See all 7 reviews. Most recent customer reviews.

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