Dad’s phone book is full of history, at least the reminder of history. Addresses are crossed out when people move. Old office numbers and people I’ve worked for are crossed out. Parents of people I’ve dated. Names are crossed off when they divorce or die.

As people call who my father trained to fly and loved him, I flip through his book and examine the writing for minute clues of history. I laugh at the Howard Johnson and Ramada from ‘EWR’ (Newark) being in the book but crossed out. Dad was based there for a while. Hell of a commute.