- Speaker #0
Hello and welcome to Stop Wasting Your Life, the podcast. I'm Ava Heimbach, your host and founder, and today I'm here with Mimi, aka Meme, aka Sally Wallace, best friend, world's best advice giver, and we're going to talk a little bit about Mimi's experience as a flight attendant in the 60s. I've learned a lot about what it was like to be a flight attendant in the 60s, and it's nothing like I would have ever imagined, so you probably want to hear that. and also what being a flight attendant taught her about herself and her life. And she even threw in lots of fun little flight attendant stories that you will probably really want to hear because one includes a sausage man and Maria Von Trapp from The Sound of Music. And before we begin, just a little reminder, if you go to our website at www.stopwastingyourlifepodcast.com, click on the giveaways tab. You will find all the ways to enter into our giveaway, which is a $500 gift card of your choice. So I don't know about you guys, but if I won that, I would get a gift card somewhere to get coffee. So Mimi and I could go talk about Sausage Man as much as possible. So go enter into that giveaway for that $500 gift card. And I want everyone to know that, and again, I say this every single week. But there is no right or wrong way to live your life. And the definition of a fulfilling life is unique to each person. And I never want to tell you how to live your life. But I just want to give you ideas, knowledge, inspiration and stories to help you create a life that you think is beautiful. Welcome to Stop Wasting Your Life, the podcast that helps you break free from a life of self-doubt and distraction. and inspires you to create a fulfilling and purposeful life. Each week we dive into actionable advice, meaningful conversation, and insightful interviews to empower you to prioritize your well-being, pursue your passions, and become the best version of yourself.
- Speaker #1
It's time to stop wasting your life and start building one that you are excited to wake up to.
- Speaker #0
Once again, I'm Ava Heimbach, your host, and today I'm here with Mimi. And this is Stop Wasting Your Life. So a little bit about Mimi and I. We've been super close since I was one because Meme actually watched me for the first year of my life because my mom was working. So we spent a lot of time together and we've stayed really, really close even till now. And she is one of the wisest people I know and gives me the best advice ever. So I would be silly not to have her come on. and speak to all of you. So Meme, welcome.
- Speaker #2
I'm so flattered I can barely talk.
- Speaker #0
I guess I'll be talking this whole episode then. Just kidding. But well, why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself? Even though I know a lot about you, every time you tell me about yourself, I learn more. So thanks,
- Speaker #2
Ava. Well, here I sit in Kansas City, but I'm from Los Angeles and definitely spent most of my formative years there. I was 21 when I left Los Angeles, and I had an interesting childhood. I came from a family where my father was an alcoholic, and my mother was trying to cope with five children at one point. And so I had to, as the oldest child, kind of be responsible for helping her through this difficult time. When I finished college with a business degree, I had an opportunity to go with the airlines, become a hostess for the airlines. The airline was TWA, Trans World Airlines, which for the last 20 years has been absorbed by American Airlines. But that's how I ended up in Kansas City. And at first, it was a huge change. I remember The first weekend that I came here to interview, I was staying downtown and they delivered the Sunday paper. And it was this tiny little paper compared to the Los Angeles Times. I thought that they had just delivered one part of the paper and it was about one fifth as big as the LA Times. And that was sort of my introduction to a much smaller environment, but an environment. that I've called home for these many years, because I think God knew I was really a Midwestern girl at heart. But anyway, so being in the airlines was really my opportunity to be exposed to the world and exposed to people. I have been educated in all girls' Catholic schools, grade school, high school, and college. So all of a sudden to be thrown on an airplane with A vast majority of men was very frightening to me. I remember that first year thinking, I can't do this job. It's just too scary. I had never been around a lot of men. As I said, my father abandoned our family when I was 12. And I had a brother that was only 10 years old when I left home. And I had a sister. And so being around men was pretty intimidating. But I decided that I was just going to grin and bear it. And I ended up loving my career until I got married. So I was an airline hostess for five years. I had a lot of interesting experiences because my favorite route was New York to Los Angeles, L.A. to New York, New York to Los Angeles, because it allowed me to have a 30-hour layover in Los Angeles. And that time was invaluable to be with my mother. And we would go out dancing and have a lot of fun. So I had the opportunity on this flight to meet a lot of movie stars and a lot of famous people. Heads of the New York Symphony. And I met in The Sound of Music, the star of The Sound of Music, Maria von Trapp.
- Speaker #0
Julia, is it Julie Andrews?
- Speaker #2
Yeah, that was the actress, but Maria von Trapp was the part she played.
- Speaker #0
Oh, you met actual Maria? Yeah, Maria. Wait a minute. Wow, that's cool.
- Speaker #2
Yeah. And the funny story about Maria is we've all watched The Sound of Music, but you know, she was a nun who left to get married. And one day a woman got on flight and she was dressed like a peasant girl and she was all of at least 65 years old and she had long braids. And this long skirt, and it all looked homemade. And really, behind her back, we were all laughing in the galley, like, what kind of a character is that? And then she started handing out her cards because her family, after their European experience, moved to the East Coast and started up a hotel on the East Coast, I think in New Hampshire. So she was trying to promote the hotel. So here was Maria von Trapp, the ex-nun. Walking down the aisle in a peasant outfit.
- Speaker #0
Wait, how did you figure out it was her?
- Speaker #2
Because I got one of the cards. Oh,
- Speaker #0
you got one of the cards. That would be crazy if just the sound of music. Wow, that's kind of crazy.
- Speaker #2
It was a wild, crazy story. And I also had, oh, who is it? The Sausage King, Jimmy Dean Sausage.
- Speaker #0
Jimmy Dean Sausage?
- Speaker #2
Jimmy Dean Sausages, yeah. They were popular, but Jimmy Dean was on the flight. And he was a bit of a challenge, too. In that case, I was racing away from him most of the time.
- Speaker #0
From the sausage man. Yeah,
- Speaker #2
from the sausage man. So, anyway, it was, and we had, oh, we just had, you know, a lot of movie stars,
- Speaker #0
and they all had their own different personalities.
- Speaker #2
I remember Sammy Davis Jr. was on our trip and he was my most difficult passenger. Wait, who's that? He was a popular black singer, kind of comedian of the 1970s. Oh,
- Speaker #0
really?
- Speaker #2
Yeah. And he was very famous because he was part of a group called the Rat Pack, who entertained in Las Vegas, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, and two other famous guys. And I was just so surprised. He always seemed so humble. But on the airplane, he was anything but humble. He was just very, very difficult. Really? Yeah.
- Speaker #0
Did you deal with a lot of difficult people?
- Speaker #2
Not so much. You know, it was interesting, an interesting phenomenon. I remember many situations where a man would be really nice on the plane, and then we'd stop a few times, and that particular nice man would start. visiting with another nice man. And before long, you'd have three difficult men to deal with. It was like one nice man met another nice man. And all of a sudden you had three difficult men. They got more flirtatious and they got more, they just kind of, I don't know, they made each other devilish or something.
- Speaker #0
How often did men on the airplane hit on you as a flight attendant?
- Speaker #2
Oh my goodness. Well, it was a different time, Eva, you know. Like I remember my first trip to Europe, if I didn't get pinched in Italy, I would have been disappointed.
- Speaker #0
Like as you're walking down the aisle?
- Speaker #2
Yes, down the aisle. I mean, I got pinched many times going down the aisle. But, you know, in those days, you never would alienate a passenger. That was the number one rule. So they could do just about anything and you'd have to laugh it off. Totally different from today's standards. That's so different. So men were very flirtatious. The other thing is, too, to become an airline hostess, for instance, I started flying in 1965, but they say that was the golden age of flying. The 60s was a golden age of flying. But it was very difficult to become an airline hostess. For instance, in Los Angeles, they would interview 200 girls a week. And of those 200, they would send two to Kansas City for a final interview. And of those two girls, they would only choose one girl.
- Speaker #0
Wow.
- Speaker #2
So by the time you got accepted. you were really flattered that they, but they were looking for attractive girls. And that's one of the reasons that I only flew for five years. After five years, I started taking time off to go back. I had a degree in business, but I decided that that wouldn't be what I would want to do. After all, I wanted to do a people something. And so I decided to go back to school and become a home ex teacher. And part of the reason for that was over that five years, I observed The airline hostesses that got older were sort of made fun of, picked on.
- Speaker #0
Because you weren't young and beautiful? Yes,
- Speaker #2
and because the majority of our passengers were men.
- Speaker #0
Oh.
- Speaker #2
So it was, I decided as much as I love my vocation, it wasn't really a vocation. I decided it was really a fling. I had to come to terms with it's fun being a young hostess, not so much fun being an older hostess.
- Speaker #0
So was that hard leaving?
- Speaker #2
Well, by coincidence, I met your grandfather about the time. And I think that, you know, all those things worked together for me to decide to settle down and get married. So that was fortunate.
- Speaker #0
So did you have to be female to be a flight attendant?
- Speaker #2
You just had to be female, yes. Really? And the prettier, the better. And each of the airlines had their own signature. Like TWA, their signature was the all-American girl. They wanted a girl that... was possibly a little less pretty, but a lot more interesting.
- Speaker #0
Really?
- Speaker #2
Whereas American Airlines was known for the pretty girls.
- Speaker #0
Really?
- Speaker #2
So they each kind of had their insignia.
- Speaker #0
So what were like the standards to become an email flight attendant?
- Speaker #2
Yeah, the very difficult thing was, because it was such a desirable job, a lot of us lost weight to get accepted. But then you had to maintain that weight for the rest of your career. And if you... weren't that weight, you were taken off schedule. And they had all these reservists on hand. So all you would have to do is show up for a flight an hour before and they'd put you on a scale and say you're two pounds overweight and they call somebody to take your place and you were off schedule and you could not fly. I don't think they even paid you for the period that you were off schedule.
- Speaker #0
Until you lost the two pounds.
- Speaker #2
Until you lost the two pounds.
- Speaker #0
Did they weigh you before every flight.
- Speaker #2
Not every flight, but they would kind of weigh you when they wanted to. And at least every month. So the girls were just, it caused a lot of eating disorders.
- Speaker #0
I was going to say, that sounds horrible.
- Speaker #2
So it was very different. Your hair could not be below your ears. You had to keep your hair short. I'm not quite sure if you could wear it on top of your head. I don't think so. I think it had to be short. It was all, a lot of it was about being able to handle an emergency. Because there was a lot more air crashes in those days. For instance, I remember one year that we were flying. When I joined TWA in 1965, it was the last year that they flew propeller airplanes. And I remember one time in that first year where I went up in the cockpit and the pilots were pointing out a fire down in the forest below us. And they were calling it in and it turned out. that it was a flight that left just before we did and was landing in Kansas City. I think we were landing in Kansas City. It may have been Indianapolis. I cannot remember either. But when we arrived, the family that had been waiting for the first flight ran onto our airplane. I mean, they were literally out on the field, ran onto the airplane, hoping that their beloveds had gotten on our flight instead of that first flight that crashed.
- Speaker #0
That's horrible. How many people passed in that first flight?
- Speaker #2
Well, those airplanes, they... Handled, as I remember, about 70 people.
- Speaker #0
Wow.
- Speaker #2
So I'm not sure it was a full flight and I'm not sure how many people. But I remember the pilot saying in those days, you know, that air crashes came in threes. So even they felt like that was one. Now we're waiting for the next one. It's very different from now.
- Speaker #0
Yeah.
- Speaker #2
So, you know, and I remember...
- Speaker #0
So were you not scared to fly?
- Speaker #2
I wasn't. In fact, I had an experience... I was flying, as I said, that first year they put the younger girls on these propeller airplanes. And I remember one incident where we hit an air pocket and that meant that you would just drop straight down for hundreds of feet. And I remember that I was serving and all of a sudden it just, it was like... The bottom fell out and you just started falling.
- Speaker #0
Like zero gravity?
- Speaker #2
Like zero gravity. And the man who was sitting next to the aisle, there was two seats on each side of me, grabbed me and pulled me into an empty seat. And I remember I was all of 21 years old. And I remember thinking, first I said my act of contrition, or I started my act of contrition because I was Catholic. And then I remember thinking, well, I've had a good life. This is okay. what was I thinking at 21 and I had had all of six months of a good life she was content how long did you drop because you just felt so helpless there was nothing you could do well I think I only dropped for about 30 seconds you know that's still but it seemed like a long time that is a long time
- Speaker #0
How far would you fall in 30 seconds?
- Speaker #2
I really don't even know. I mean, I never checked into it. But it was unusual, but not that unusual. It probably, if you were flying those propeller airplanes, as I said, it only happened to me once in a year. And then after that, TWA became an all-jet airline.
- Speaker #0
Really?
- Speaker #2
And the interesting thing, too, again, psychologically, is that on those propeller airplanes, people were so easygoing. Because they really didn't expect, if they're going to Detroit or New York, they didn't really expect to get there anyway on time. So they were just very easygoing. And if you found out you were going to be delayed, we'd just get a deck of cards out and people were just content. But once you got on a jet, then they all of a sudden had expectations that we're going to be at a certain place at a certain time. So it changed the personality of the people. They all of a sudden were much more demanding. not only about their schedule, but about, you know, when is my food getting here? And that was the other thing, you know, now you rarely get food.
- Speaker #0
You get like a pack of pretzels, maybe.
- Speaker #2
Anything over an hour, you got a full meal.
- Speaker #0
Really? A full meal?
- Speaker #2
Yes, a full meal. And I remember on these propellers, I used to fly Kansas City to St. Louis a lot. because Kansas City was the hub, but St. Louis was kind of, it's where we did a lot of mechanical work and things. So a lot of flights stopped in St. Louis. But I remember being so young and new, and we had an hour's flight, and I needed to serve drinks and liquor to 69 people. And I remember people getting on the plane and thinking, I don't even have time to say hello to you, you know, no time at all. And I remember several of those flights. Sitting on the floor of the airplane on the galley, because I just barely got all the trays in. But when we landed, I would have been the first one to die because I wasn't in my seat. I was sitting on the floor surrounded by trays, you know.
- Speaker #0
Were they good meals?
- Speaker #2
They were very good meals. Really? I mean, yes. In fact, I had a terrible time with my weight because they were so good. You know, most of us were...
- Speaker #0
That's unfair of them to make you be a certain weight and then feed you really yummy meals.
- Speaker #2
Right, yummy meals. and we Well, I shared that with a lot of girls. And also we were saving money because we didn't get paid a lot. So oftentimes we take food off of the airplane. And so that made it even more difficult to lose weight.
- Speaker #0
Just a little interruption. The code for this episode is 4732. So if you go to www.stopwastingyourlifepodcast.com, go to the giveaways tab and then type that code in. That will get you 10 entries to that $500 gift card of your choice.
- Speaker #1
Do the airplanes look the same as they do now, for the most part?
- Speaker #2
For the most part, I think they did. I can't remember that there was anything. The big difference was you could go in and out of the cockpit with ease because there wasn't all the problems they are now. You know, it was a lot more fun crew because we'd spend three or four days together. We'd have dinners together, you know. So, so. Everybody was in a much better mood, you know.
- Speaker #0
And people could smoke, right?
- Speaker #2
Not only could they smoke, but we'd hand out cigarettes. What? Yes. We had packs of cigarettes. This was my routine. You'd get on the airplane and you'd pass out magazines to everybody. And then you would pass out cigarettes to everybody. And, you know, like you might have one person in the row that didn't smoke and there's always somebody next to him saying, could I have your cigarettes? So I never got any cigarettes back because people were collecting them, you know, and you could even smoke a pipe. But the only thing you had to do was check with the row in back of the people and in front of the people. And if they said it was okay for you to smoke a pipe, you could smoke a pipe. My clothes used to reek of cigarette smoke when I get off the airplane. And when I'd land in Los Angeles, my mother would always say, are you smoking? Have you started smoking? And I would say, no, but my clothes just reeked of smoke.
- Speaker #0
So do you think you got a bunch of secondhand smoke?
- Speaker #2
Definitely. I think that's why I have pulmonary problems today. Oh,
- Speaker #0
that would make a lot of sense.
- Speaker #2
Because I'd be running up and down those aisles for five years and I'd been inhaling all that smoke.
- Speaker #0
Oh, that makes so much sense.
- Speaker #2
And you're... Clothes would just reek of it. So that was a really big difference. And then I got my first cavity because we would pass out chicklets gum. And you'd want your breath to be sweet, so you'd throw chicklets in your mouth. And I'd never had a cavity in that. After six months of flying, I went in and I had about three cavities from the chicklets gum. But I never did smoke.
- Speaker #0
That's good. She got enough secondhand smoke. She didn't have to.
- Speaker #2
So. It was very fun times. And then your next duty was to pass out cards that said TWA, and then you pass out little wings to all the kids. And then you'd offer the mothers to hold the babies if they needed to go to the restroom or anything. And then you never went to sit down. Then your next job was to go out and visit with the passengers. And that was so wonderful. I really think that was the changing point in my life because... You'd sit down too. I'd find the most interesting passenger. But after I did all this, passing out cigarettes and everything, I had a good opportunity to observe who I was most interested in visiting with. And oftentimes it was the older gentleman who was sitting in first class that looked like he had a lot to share, you know. But the interesting thing is, is they knew they'd never see you again. So it was sort of like, they felt like they were talking to their parish priest, that they could tell you all. They would never have to face the music. So they'd tell me why they were getting a divorce from their wife. They'd tell me what bothered them about their wives. They'd tell me if they had girlfriends. They'd tell me. And I had so much information at my fingertips. But it served a lifetime. I remember so much. One man who was in first class, and this was on a jet after a couple of years of flying, but his private jet met our airplane wherever we were going. And I had heard that. He was a VIP because we put VIP signs on their seats in first class. So I was visiting with him and I remember him saying, you know, here I was 21 and he was probably in his 60s or so. But he said, when I get home, I'm going to ask for a divorce from my wife. He said, I've worked hard all my life. I've done very well financially. But every time I want to leave town, she said, oh, I couldn't possibly. I have a meeting. My hair is a mess. I would have to get my hair done. I have nothing to wear. And he said, I'm going to retire in a few months. My wife doesn't know it yet, but I've worked too long and too hard not to have a good life. So very soon from now, I'm going to ask her for a divorce. So as a result, your grandfather can attest to this. He never says, would you like to go somewhere that I don't say yes. I'm here. I'm your girl. Like, here you go. The other thing that changed my life that I've told a lot of people about is that, especially sitting in first class, oftentimes I couldn't help but notice how many older men were with very young women, usually platinum blondes, very good looking. And I would observe, because I was kind of their age, I would observe them talking to these older men that they were with. And they would be going, oh, you're so fun. Oh, you're so interesting. I just love what you have to say. And of course, these older men were just eating it up. But I learned then and there to, if you love your husband, be a very good wife. And, you know, every once in a while I'll think of that and I'll say to grandpa,
- Speaker #0
how clever of you. You're so silly, Cheryl. So did anyone ever ask you out or did you ever go on a date with someone from the airplane?
- Speaker #2
Yes, I did. But I remember one very attractive fellow. I actually met him downtown. I was trying on hats at Wolf Brothers. That was a very famous store downtown. And he was across the counter and he came up and visited. And we kind of spent the afternoon downtown together and he asked me for my phone number. Well, lo and behold, he ended up on one of my flights.
- Speaker #1
Really?
- Speaker #2
But he didn't know I was going to be on his flight and he had a wedding ring on.
- Speaker #1
No.
- Speaker #2
And after I had met him downtown, I think I had talked to him a few times. But when I saw that wedding ring, it was sort of a little reminder that people are not exactly always what they pretend to be. Yeah. I remember that was the only time I really remember being really disappointed in mankind because I'm. I'm sort of a cockeyed optimist, you know, and honestly, we've talked about this before. All the men in my life treated me so well with so much respect. And I was, you know, a very conservative person, but I was just treated so nicely that... That was a real kind of devastating thing to me to see that someone had been so dishonest with me.
- Speaker #0
So were you dating anyone when you were a flight attendant?
- Speaker #2
Oh, yes. That was the other beautiful thing. Oh, yes. You could have a boyfriend in several different towns, you know. I was dating a doctor in New Orleans and a doctor here at the same time. And the one here was a plastic surgeon. As you know, your grandfather was an obstetrician gynecologist. But the funny thing is, I always thought, oh, he'll be a wonderful dad. I'm going to have babies. But now I'm thinking the plastic surgeon would have been a wonderful dad.
- Speaker #0
Can we go back and call the plastic surgeon up for sake of everyone in our family, please?
- Speaker #2
Anyway, yes, that was not unusual. And it wasn't like I was promising or lying to anybody, but it was just very convenient, you know, to have different boyfriends in different towns.
- Speaker #0
Did you have a favorite?
- Speaker #2
Yeah, I had a couple of favorites. But, you know, to this day, I was thinking the only boy that ever really broke my heart was a young boy when I was like 17 and he was like 20 and he had a little sports car and he was an engineer. He had graduated from an East Coast Ivy League college, and he'd come to California to work. And I met him going dancing with my mother at the Hollywood Palladium. And I felt absolutely, totally in love with him. But, you know, in retrospect, I realized that a girl who's still in high school dating a college graduate, who had a sports car and everything, it was never going to work. But I think that's the only one that I remember that really broke my heart. I remember Playing sad songs for quite a while.
- Speaker #0
Typical breakup stuff. So were you an airline hostess when you met Grandpa?
- Speaker #2
Yes, I was. How did you meet Grandpa? I was going to school when I met him. I had taken off one semester. I decided I wanted to become a home ec teacher and teach young women. And so I took off a semester and went to Rockers College to get my sciences because I had all business. And so I... went to Rockers for one semester and then I had to go back to flying for a semester and then I went to St. Mary's in Leavenworth for a semester to do my home ec degree and during that time I met grandpa in Kansas City how did you meet grandpa again how did I meet grandpa again that's kind of another story grandpa wouldn't want me to tell actually I was in the hospital as a patient and And... I had to be admitted. And my doctor, I'm still suspicious. I think he wanted me to go out with his brother because the next morning when I woke up, he was showing me a picture of a young man in the middle of a wheat field. And he said, this is my brother. Would you be interested in meeting him? And he looked like a nice enough guy, but... I'm a girl from Los Angeles. I'm not wheat field material.
- Speaker #0
She wants a plastic surgeon only.
- Speaker #2
I'm not wheat field material.
- Speaker #0
Must have a sports car.
- Speaker #2
I said, no, I'm sorry. I, I, how old is he? I guess I said, how old is he? And he said, he's.
- Speaker #0
30. And I said, oh, he's way too old for me. But if he had been six months older than me, he would have been too old for me because as I said, the wheat field didn't appeal to me. So then he said, well, not to worry. I have another person in mind for you. And it was your grandfather.
- Speaker #1
It was grandpa. Yeah.
- Speaker #0
So he introduced me to grandpa and then grandpa was dating another TWA hostess at the time.
- Speaker #1
Really?
- Speaker #0
Yes. Did you know her? No, She was just here in training. And when she left town. He said he saw me in the plaza one day and he remembered that he had my phone number and he called me. And then I showed him because I really didn't do this purposely. But ask your grandfather. It's very bitter. The day he made plans, he asked me out to dinner and I was living with your Aunt Elaine. And he came and I had gone on an afternoon date and I was an hour late for our first date. And he was so angry that he didn't talk to me. He took me to Pooch's on the Plaza, which was a beautiful restaurant. But he didn't talk all through dinner. And the more he didn't talk, the more I did talk, you know. And I left thinking, oh, we're not suited for each other. He doesn't talk at all. And I was dating an attorney at the time, another guy. And I had broken up a few months later with the attorney. And he said, I bet you'll go and marry that doctor. And I said, oh, no, he's way too quiet for me. But as it turns out, a more talkative person and a more quiet person sometimes is very complimentary.
- Speaker #1
Why were you late to the date?
- Speaker #0
You know, I think that, I think I was just careless. I think I was just careless at the time. Not much of a good excuse, is it?
- Speaker #1
Well, it must have worked because grandpa is still around and they do have a wonderful marriage. So.
- Speaker #0
I know. No thanks to me. thank you grandpa i think that grandpa was his ying to my yang i really do i think we were always very complimentary you know grandpa was really smart and logical and i was very fun uh-huh and you still do you think you're still pretty i think we're still that way uh-huh i think we've still fill those roles pretty well uh-huh so flying was you know the making of me in a way I think when I got accepted, I had dated a little bit, but I didn't have a lot of confidence. But flying, you know, when I flew, you'd walk through an airport and everybody would, you know, whistle at you and turn around. And it just built my confidence up. And I think I became the person that I was meant to be. I think being the first child of the family, I was pretty serious before I left home, very responsible. And I think when I started flying. It allowed me to be a lot more fun and a lot more confident. And I've settled down somewhere in between.
- Speaker #1
What are some lessons that you learned while being an airline hostess that you still carry with you today?
- Speaker #0
Well, several. One was I remember one of the men on the airplane who was the director of the New York Philharmonic. And I was asking him, he was in first class, and I remember asking him about his background. And he was talking about growing up in Europe and not having any money as a child. And his father, he was the only son, and his father would have a little bit of money and take him to the opera house once a month. And they'd have to stand in the back row. They couldn't afford a seat. But as he told me this story about his father and... how much he grew to love music, the tears came down, were flowing from his eyes. And I remember as a young girl thinking, whatever I do in life, I'm going to expose my children to beautiful music. And so I talked to grandpa about that when we got married. And we decided always to try to have classical music on the radio in the background. And as a result, as you know, and skate, majored in music at KU. your mother and Elizabeth, they all played the piano, they all loved music. And I think what that taught me about life is that how important it is to know what makes you happy in life. And if it's something as simple as turning on a radio, what a joy that is and how easy that is. It doesn't cost anything at all to just turn on beautiful music and be transported to a wonderful place. So I think that I've given a lot of thought about how important it is in one's life to know what uniquely makes you automatically happy. And I'm so thankful for that man who shed those few tears. I remember one time I had flown a couple of years. And in Kansas City, we had about 350 girls who flew out of Kansas City. And we had, I think, seven or eight bases. And each base would elect every year a Miss TWA, a girl that represents the best of TWA. Well, I had heard about this young woman. And One day somebody said, you know, we're going to be flying with this Miss TWA of this year. I had already heard how wonderful she was, so I was really excited about it. And I was also really disappointed when I saw her because she did not fit the image that I imagined. She was not beautiful. She was very ordinary. And when I talked to her, she didn't really impress me. But we flew together for three days, and every day something kind of out of the ordinary happened. It was during the Vietnam War. We had a young soldier on the plane during those three days that came on board, and he had no arms. And everybody sort of felt uncomfortable, not knowing exactly what to do. And he sat down on his seat, and it came time that we were getting ready to leave. And we told everyone to fasten his seatbelts. And here he is with no arms. And the two girls in the back that were working the back, both she and I were saying, what do we do? Do we go up and say, can I fasten your seatbelt for you? With that, Ms. TWA walked over to him and she said, I'll fasten your seatbelt if you promise not to pinch me. And there was this gas that went all up around her of all the passengers like, oh. How shocking. He broke out in laughter and everyone around him just relaxed. And you could just tell. And I thought, what an outstanding person. She knew just what to say. And over those three days, I literally thought every day, what was I thinking about her not being pretty? She is so pretty. She literally got more beautiful in my eyes, physically beautiful in three days. And it just showed me forever more. What an effect our personality have on how beautiful we are and how little, you know, the physical looks may be the thing that strikes you first, but truly it's the whole person that wins people over. But she was a miracle to me to work with and I learned a lot from her. So that was another thing that I learned. I think I learned on the airplane because it was a more dangerous time to fly, to enjoy every day. and to enjoy my passengers. And I really learned to love people. I don't think I ever loved people so much as I did until I flew. So I think that those were, I told you, I learned a lot about being a good wife from the men who told me so nonchalantly about how to be a good wife. And I think the other thing that really stayed with me, which I think you can attest to, is I always try to put my best foot forward. try to put on makeup every day, not so much to impress other people, but I'm a better person when I look my best. So I still do try to look my best every day. And I think I still have a lot more fun because of that. I think I've learned how to tweak my life so that I'm pretty happy with who I am. Very happy with who my granddaughters are. Stop it, me. And my grandsons.
- Speaker #1
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