I imagined Grandma all the way back in row 34.
But as I watched that curtain separate me from my grandmother, an old question began to surface—one that would change everything I thought I knew about her past.
Why Had She Stopped Flying?
I knew only pieces of the story about my grandfather.
His name was Frank Walsh.
He had worked as an aircraft mechanic at Logan for thirty-four years.
According to Mom, he could listen to an engine and know something was wrong before anyone else found the problem.
He died the week I was born.
I arrived on March thirteenth, 1999.
He died March fourteenth.
Everyone told me it was a heart attack.
That was basically all I knew.
Whenever I asked questions as a child, Grandma became quiet.
Mom usually changed the subject.
There was only one photograph of him in Grandma’s house.
He was young in
