A Pilot at Heart

I enjoy writing about family photos. I do this partly to remember and partly to share with future generations.

If you’re writing a family history book or blog, writing about family photos can be a helpful way to piece your story together. You might use those photos and stories in your book. Or they might be a way to jog your memory and stretch your writing muscle. Either way, I can recommend writing about family photos as a helpful exercise.

I’ve chosen a photo to write about here—it’s a favorite photo of my uncle, Harold (Hal or Buddy) Washburn. He was my mom’s brother. My mom took this photo when she visited him at his lakeside home in Virginia. He had moved to Virginia from Long Island, New York after retiring as an airline pilot for Pan Am.

I love this photo for two main reasons. One is that I was so glad my mom had a chance to spend lots of time visiting her brother when they were both retired. They were so close growing up, and I know it meant a lot to both of them that they were able to spend time together in their later years. That’s one reason this photo means a lot to me.

The other reason I love this photo is that it shows my uncle as a pilot, whether in the air or on the lake. It seems that no matter where he was or what he was doing, he was a pilot at heart.

I was always in awe of his profession. To this day, I have great respect for airline pilots. He waved off the accolades, saying it was just like driving a bus. I guess compared to his earlier military flights in small planes, those jumbo jets probably did feel like a bus. But I still had the greatest respect for the work he did.

He had an adventurous, fun-loving spirit—similar to how I live life. I enjoyed his sense of humor and appreciated the way he always treated me with honor and care. And he always carried the quiet leadership quality of a pilot. It was innate in him.

In my experience, it’s been rare to find that combination of leadership, compassion, and fun spirit. He modeled what that looks like and that it does exist.

That’s what I see in this photo, and that’s how I’ll always remember him: a safe, humble yet alert leader who loved and cared for his family and always loved to laugh. That’s my Uncle Hal.