‘God, I don’t know what you’ve done with the kids, Liam, but I’m so impressed. I’ve never seen Abbie so confident and content in herself. I can’t believe she’s about to get up on that stage.’
‘I know.’ Liam beamed with pride.
‘And Josh,’ Alex exclaimed,’ he’s like a new re-booted version of himself, less grumpy, less teenager-y.’ she smiled.
‘I know,’ Liam whispered. ‘Seeing Davina has really brought them on, they’ve even gotten to the stage where they look forward to going over to Harbour House to see her. Thanks again for the recommendation.’
‘Davina is pretty cool.’ Alex said.
He looked to his left where Louise was sitting with Kelly and then back to Alex. ‘I think being cool is a Kennedy family trait.’ She smiled and when the assembled crowd began to hush they all quietened and looked towards the stage. The Dean of the university was the first to walk on.
Liam gulped with nerves wondering what Abbie was like backstage and Josh sat forward in his seat, his leg jerking uncontrollably in front of him. He knew that she would need all the confidence and strength she could muster to get through the next few minutes and he willed it up to her. The Dean introduced Abbie and the room fell silent waiting for her to speak.
‘Thank you so much for the lovely welcome,’ Abbie smiled and placed her page on the lectern in front of her. It was a short speech but an effective one and while she was determined to deliver it, her legs began to shake. She snapped her legs together, exhaled and began to read.
‘For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Abbie Buckley, the youngest child of Captain Jennifer Buckley, the pilot whose achievements in aviation we are honouring here today… which is quite fitting as it’s Mum’s one-year anniversary today.’ She added quickly and dipped her head for a fraction of a second. You could hear the ground swell of emotion flutter through the room. ‘And it is an honour to be here on the day that the Captain Jennifer Buckley Scholarship for Women in Aviation award is launched.’ Abbie stretched her shoulders downwards before she added quietly, ‘if Mum were here she’d say she was thrilled skinny with the honour.’ A ripple of laughter waved across the room.
‘And when I was thinking of what I was going to say today and how I was going to appeal to such an accomplished crowd of aviators and scientists and aeronautical engineers, I think it’s safe to say, I became a little overwhelmed.’ She threw a glance towards Josh and he gave her an encouraging smile.
‘And it’s not as though I couldn’t tell you about chip lights, or talk about ailerons or what “v1” actually means.’ Another ripple of laughter exploded in the crowd. ‘That’s velocity one, the point at which a craft can lift from the ground,’ she raised her eyebrows comically and the crowd responded with a clap. ‘Because believe me,’ she threw another look at Josh who was laughing just as loud as everyone else. ‘No child of Jennifer Buckley’s is not going to know what these things mean.’ She pointed animatedly in the air and waited for their laughing to recede. ‘So all aviation-related stuff aside, I was trying to think of what I could say to such an assembled crowd that would make an impact, the type of impact my mum would want me to make, and then it came to me.
‘You see, the woman you all called Captain Jennifer Buckley, my brother Josh and I were lucky enough to call Mum… it may have been short-lived, fifteen years in my case and seventeen in Josh’s, but we still got to be something that no one else would get to be: Captain Jennifer Buckley’s children. If I’m going to speak about anything, that’s what I’m going to say.
‘My mum, Captain Jennifer Buckley was strong, she was resilient, and she was powerful. And she was all those things while at the same time being one of the funniest… if not a little sarcastic, and kindest human beings to have ever lived. And I know a lot of you here today would feel the same way as me.’ She looked around the crowd and watched as men and women that her mum had worked with dabbed their eyes. ‘And the one thing we all knew about mum, about Captain Jennifer Buckley was that she never gave up…ever.’ Abbie smiled emphasising the last word. ‘Which is why she would be so proud today that this scholarship, the Captain Jennifer Buckley Aviation Award will help an equally resilient, strong and powerful woman to make her dreams come true. You never know, maybe I might be a lucky recipient one day.’ The crowd broke into spontaneous applause and within seconds were on their feet. ‘So without further ado,’ Abbie raised her voice to make it heard over the clapping. ‘I would like to officially launch the Captain Jennifer Buckley Aviation Award and make a call on behalf of Dublin University for expressions of interest from fierce, trailblazing female aviators who want to change the world, just like Mum did. Thank you.’
When the Time Comes (ARC) Page 31