This weekend I was in my hanger sealing the radio access panels on my '66
M20E, N9208M, better known in the family as "Mike".  I was overcome by a
bout of nostalgia as I considered all the places that I have visited and
things I have done with this airplane over a fifteen year period: Alaska,
Mexico, The Carolina Coast, New York, countless Oshkosh trips, bad weather,
sublime weather.  I thought about those trips accross the country with my
wife,  sharing quality time with my daughter who grew to adulthood as my
most frequent co-pilot.  I trused my life a thousand time to Mike.  I met a
hundred people I liked because we had the common bond of flying.  I thought
of the abject emptiness I felt when I sold Mike (and instantly regretted
it).  Fortunately we were rejoined after a few years separation.   I walked
over to the front of the plane and put my arm across the broad cowl like one
might put your arm across the shoulders of your best friend.  I hugged that
aiplane, that's the best way to describe it.

And I do believe it hugged me back.

(The preceeding was shared with the Mooney mail list in December 1998)