All Good Things: Conclusion
"You're wearing it!" Fin smiled when I walked into the Piper Museum. I was wearing my brand-new blue Giwoggle T-shirt.
I grinned. "it just came last night. I couldn't wait to wear it, actually. My kids are gonna love it."
"That's so awesome."
"Would you mind putting on coffee?"
"I already did."
"Thanks. Excellent." I turned to Stacey. "How's the Fly-In going?"
"It's going well. How was your first board meeting?"
"About right, for a board meeting. I spent two hours wondering why I ever wanted to be on the board. But I'll survive."
Stacey grinned. "They're not all that bad. Have you been in the big C-54 yet?"
"My little boy tried to get in the cockpit and fly it last night. Anything you need from me?"
"We just got a donation of two Piper Cub tires. If you could take them to the archives and accession them, that would be great. Oh, and by the way...." Stacey handed me a small key on a chain. "Here's your key to the museum."
I smiled.
"You have no idea what this means to me."
I opened the door to the archives, and turned on the lights. Setting my pack by the desk---My desk---I looked around the room.
File cabinets. A line of shelves with artifacts on them. Books about aviation. All my responsibility.
I'm back in the museum business.
"So what's on the agenda?" Fin came in behind me.
"I'd like to teach you some stuff about archiving and accessioning artifacts during the Fly-In," I said. "And we'll explore the building together. But I also want to find out about Max Conrad."
"Tell me more," said Fin.
"Max Conrad was known as the Flying Grandpa," I said. "He began setting world records in his Piper Aztec at age forty-seven, and kept up for most of his life. I'd like to include him on my tour tonight, if I can find out where he lived. And if it's within walking distance of the library. So we need to do some digging."
"I'm in," said Fin.
"We have a couple of files on Max Conrad back here," I said. I dug them out, and handed one over.
We paged through. I said."Max Conrad was pretty freaking awesome. This guy set records for speed, for distance....I may write a column about him."
"That'll be interesting."
"Actually one may not be enough."
I looked over one article. "Here's a story about Conrad crash-landing in Greenland. He went back later and wasn't able to retrieve his plane, but....Ah. Here we go! Score."
"Do tell."
"He lost the plane, but he got back his watch....And a Fallon Hotel key."
"So...."
"So he was living at the Fallon for a while. Which means I have a reachable residence for him, which means I can include it on the tour tonight."
"Awesome! I'll be there."
"Good. I sort of missed you last week. Also, there was this bear."
Jen came into the archives.
"Hey, Lou, we have a question out here. A guy wants to know the difference between a Piper Tri-Pacer and the next line, the Piper Caribbean."
"I'm on my way."
"Also, we have someone who called about your article on the Last Dogfight, and an author who needs a photo of the prototype for the Piper Seneca."
"Wow." said Fin. "You're in big demand."
I smiled.
"Yeah," I said. "It feels pretty good."
A little later, when the crowd had died down a bit, I walked back into the archives. I sat down at the desk, then turned the chair around to look at the room.
This is all my territory, now.
It's a huge archive, full of information and artifacts. And I'm the one they've selected to handle it.
Not only am I helping out....I'm on the board. I'm in charge.
I drank some of my coffee.
After all these years....All the adventures....I'm running a museum. I'm one of the people making the decisions. And I'm doing something that I really care about.
I'm going to love this place.
I stood up and got to work.
It's almost like it's a happy ending.