My Son and My Future in Aviation

I have been a little less than prompt on the updates so I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to write about what I've been doing lately. My typical schedule consists of the following:

Mondays I work, I have my online class, I study, and I try to get an hour of instrument simulator time (on my computer). Additionally, once a month I have a conference call with an ex F/A-18 pilot who answers questions and gives future pilots career advice.
Tuesdays I work, have ground school immediately after, clean my apartment (when I stay there), and try to end it with some course work studying.
Wednesdays I work, study about an hour, and then (as of recently) have a game with my kickball team "Pitches n BOHs" with a bar night that surely follows.
Thursdays and Fridays I work, run errands, and use this time to schedule appointments like a doctor’s appointment, dental appointment, flight time, simulator time (on an FAA approved sim), etc. This appointment slot system I got setup gives me scheduled time to do things that I need for the goals I have (i.e. becoming a Pilot & passing the military flight physical). I also try and end the day with an hour of studying and at least an hour on my computer simulator at home.
Weekends I either spend time with my son (if I have him that weekend) and I try my best to get my mind off aviation and see my friends & family. This is a lot harder than it would seem given that one of my best friends is passionate about, and in school for, Aeronautical Engineering. Additionally, on the weekends that I do have my son we end up going to places like BWI to watch the planes or one of the Aerospace Museums.

Of course, like I said this is a typical week. Some weeks I leave work early/late, have appointments in the beginning of the week, obligations to my friends, or I just need a break from things and I swing by a bar (or sit at the end of the runway and watch the planes fly over). Distractions aside, my point is that I am actively working toward my goal. Now that I've established a description of the work that I've put towards becoming a pilot, I will make it very clear that: Nothing in my life comes before my Son.

I make this statement because of a few things that are going on that I feel will ultimately sway me toward or away from seeing my goal of being a pilot through. These things relate to my Son's inability to speak at his age and also his lack of eye contact when you speak to him. I'll most likely just come off as a very concerned father if I went into all the details of what I am thinking and feeling; however I am hoping that the speech pathologist that is coming to my house in the next two weeks can put my mind at ease.

You see, my Son is extremely smart. You can show him how things work and two weeks later he'll still remember them. In fact, sometimes you don't even have to show him how things work and he'll figure it out. Example: One day I was raking the leaves out front at my parents’ house and so I emptied my pockets on the side walk so that prior to raking the leaves I could play in them with Joey. Well, after we're doing playing and I see that he's content sitting on the front porch playing with his match box cars- I go to work raking all the leaves up and that's when it happened. About four minutes into my speed raking, I hear my car start. Sure enough it only took my Son four minutes to walk from the porch to my keys, my keys to the car, open the driver’s door, climb in the driver’s seat, put the key in the ignition, and start her up.

Not bad for a child not even three years old, but I digress. There are moments when I am spending time with him that he doesn't acknowledge that anyone’s talking to him, his eye contact is inconsistent, and his speech progress is standing at a slight whine when he wants something and a tiny grunt when he's unhappy.

This has me worried because of the amount of information that's available and the sharp rise in the cases of autism in the last 15-20 years. It's with this information and his mother and my own current situation that I've decided to not pursue a career in Aviation if he does indeed have Autism or any sort of moderate to severe learning disability. I just can't see myself leaving for long periods of time if my Son is going to be put at a disadvantage at any point in his life outside the regular sphere of childhood.

That said, I love my son more than anything and I look forward to meeting with the pathologist and hearing what he/she will have to say. I'll keep everyone in the loop.

Cheers.

"There I was at forty thousand feet when the autopilot jumped out with the only parachute on board and left me with nothing but a silk worm and a sewing kit." - Anonymous