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It was a crisp southern morning clear and perfect for flying. Our plan was to arrive in Mobile, Alabama in a couple of hours, the usual flight time needed from Jackson, Miss. My father was flying my mother and me in our small Piper Cub Airplane. It was a two-seater training-plane with a steering stick in both the pilot's front seat and the student's seat in back. I had to sit straddling the "stick" on my mother's lap in back.

Betty on the Wing of One of Johnny's Planes

Suddenly, black spots of oil began to splash on the windshield like rain from a spring shower. Though I was only eight years old, I had flown with my dad from the time I was four. I knew something bad was happening. My view of the severity of the situation was validated when my mom started to beat on my back assuring me in a panicked voice that everything would be just fine.

As mom pounded on me protectively, my dad whistled Dixie. The up-beat positive rhythm was like a message stating that my dad had a plan and we were safe. I remember feeling so secure that I began counting the oil spots and marveling at the interesting designs they were making on the windshield. My calm and controlled father found a stretch of highway without cars and masterfully landed our plane, which now looked like a giant spotted Dalmatian. We taxied down the narrow black top highway and rolled into a country filling station. A young boy about my age, whose eyes were almost as large as his open mouth, cautiously approached us. In the 40's there were very few cars on Mississippi highways, and he had never seen an airplane on the ground, let alone in his Saturday work place.

We called for a mechanic and a rental car and left the plane for repair. I left with a lesson I have not forgotten. Though my father never told me the importance of poise under pressure, he had demonstrated in a life-threatening situation the results of staying centered, in control and calm.

During times of great stress, in life threatening situations, the ability to remain calm and centered can reign over possible calamity. Being able to function appropriately under these conditions begins with forethought, a decision, that you will remain present under any circumstance. My students loved this true story demonstrating Calm over Calamity.

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