Living a good life

In in early autumn (fall) of last year, Himself and I made an attempt to have a week’s leave together – this time one which wasn’t interrupted by outside influences (his car, my work, our neighbour). The previous attempt had ended up being remarkably stressful, nearly resulting in my resignation and him having to purchase a car in more of a hurry than a man who doesn’t make quick decisions would be comfortable with. We survived it, with both his car and my work remaining unchanged, but our stress levels were high, so we gave it one more try and we managed to get away for a couple of day trips which we haven’t done for a while.

Himself found a couple of old-style museums, ones which hadn’t been prettified, and were just chock-full of all manner of stuff. At the second museum, in what appeared a curation decision, they displayed photos and stories of the (mostly killed) wartime pilots alongside the wreckage from their downed planes, even – on occasion – with a photo and stories of the enemy pilot who’d been responsible for their demise 🤨 An interesting take on things certainly but, as this practice extended room upon room, it made the whole experience feel more memorial than museum. One aspect we’d like to have seen extended was the small display of newspapers of the day, which not only offered a welcome break, but made for utterly fascinating reading.

Luckily, the first museum was a little gem. Run by volunteers and filled with guides, all of whom had worked in the aviation industry in one form or another, and all of whom had wonderful experiences and knowledge to share with visitors – it was a genuine treat to be there, and so enjoyable chatting with such enthusiastic individuals. I laughingly said to Himself how unusual it was for me (a woman of nearly 70) to have so many men of a certain age actively catch my eye and smile at me. Not (as Himself presumed) that they were on the pull 😉 but because they were guides with stories to share with visitors, and Himself is so tall that I’m more at their eye level 😂

It was there we got chatting to a lovely old chap. He’d been a long-haul pilot on the major airlines, flying in and out of those areas where I’d lived as a child, and where Himself had worked as a young man. He’d not only plentiful tales to tell of those experiences, but was able to talk knowledgeably about the museum’s build of a replica bi-plane from the 1920s, detailing how’d they’d been able to piece together the design from the bits and pieces of wreckage on display. Why do I tell you this latter fact? Well, when he forgot what he was talking about at one point, he shared with us that he now suffers with dementia. So Himself immediately fed him a prompt to pick up his story, which he did without a beat.

At the end of said story, he explained that diesel engines on a Boeing VC10 were vented into the cockpit’s aircon (while being at pains to stress the air supply of passengers was in no way impacted) and it was this which had caused his dementia. Despite this, he loved VC10s, a feeling I share, so we chatted away happily on that and many other subjects. I came away thinking how utterly lovely it was that he’d found somewhere he would be valued, and could spend time with people who were as passionate about the things he loved as he was.

What type of museums, galleries or events do you enjoy? Do you like informative guides, or do you prefer to be left to wander alone?

© Debs Carey, 2025