Taking Flight

For the next thirty minutes I was untouchable in my joy. The sky was clear, the sun already tempting me to spend another day at the beach. I had my best friend by my side and a boy who loved me. It was about this same time that you were inching down the runway, lifting off the ground for one of the hundreds of take-offs the FAA required your experimental aircraft to make before you could expand the distance you were permitted to fly. It was about this time that everything changed...David Norton lived for two things: family and flying. With the help of his wife, Jan (self appointed parts manager) and teenage daughter, Sarah (lifelong co-pilot), David worked for six years building his very own airplane in his basement workshop. His dream became a reality in the spring of 2000 when N256DN took its first flight. Three months later, David was performing a routine take-off when a fluke change in wind brought his plane down. David was killed instantly. Jan and Sarah were thrown into a whirlwind of grief and depression that nearly destroyed the family David so dearly loved. I was unhealthy in every way a person could be, intensified by the fact that I kept pretending to be fine. Or doing my best to pretend, to fit into who I was before. I carde about nothing but went through the daily motions of school, homework, and hanging out with friends, as though these were still the most important parts of my life. I felt like I was outside of my own body most of the time, watching from the sidelines as Sarah smiled. Now a grown woman with a family and dreams of her own, Sarah looks back on the depression and darkness of teenage grief and the unthinkable transformation of her family following her father's death. Taking Flight is a journey through loss, a story of love, and a lesson in following your dreams - no matter what the cost. Life is beautiful and brief - get your copy of Taking Flight today and find the inspiration to touch the skies of your dreams.ReviewReaders will feel as though Sarah did not use any ink to write this book, but instead used her own blood from her heart. Each sentence, each statement and each memory are written with such honesty and such affection that readers will feel like they are a member of this family. Incredibly powerful and mesmerizing. - Ariesgrl Book ReviewsThis is a story of both loss and survival. It takes you through the total destruction and slow and painful rebuilding of the lives of two women (after the death of their father/husband). While it isn't often pretty, it is a raw look at what we pray will never happen to us! This book is well written. Touching and heartfelt! - mboss49