Charles Lindbergh, A Mama’s Son
One of the most famous feats in an airplane took place on May 20-21, 1927. Just 23 1/2 years after the Wright brothers made the world’s first successful airplane flight on a beach near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
At Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, that day to send him off was his mother, Evangeline Lindbergh. Before her son left, Mrs. Lindbergh said to him: “Well, goodbye, Sonny Boy, and good luck.” I wouldn’t have said, “Good luck.” I would have said, “I am praying for you,” and I would have been, too! I love that she was there! How really wonderful! Lindbergh landed in Paris 33 1/2 hours later.
After his historic flight, Lindbergh went on a tour across the U.S. On August 10, 1927, 30,000 people cheered when he landed his Spirit of St. Louis at the Ford Airport near Dearborn, Michigan. Lindbergh’s parents were divorced. At that time, his mother was teaching high school in Detroit. Those were the days of the Model T Ford. Lindbergh and his mother rode in an open air, stretch Model T to an outdoor ceremony in Lindbergh’s honor.
After the ceremony, the two rode to the home of Mrs. Lindbergh’s uncle who was a physician. Twenty-five years before, when she was expecting her first and only baby, Charles, she knew exactly who she wanted to deliver her baby—her uncle in Detroit. The problem was that she was living 800 miles away in Minnesota. She rode the 800 miles to Detroit on a train, and her uncle delivered her baby at his home. When Lindbergh and his mother arrived at his great uncle’s home on that August 10, 1927, Charles dedicated a plaque memorializing his birthplace.
At that time, Detroit was the bustling center of the automobile industry. During his visit there, Lindbergh took automaker Henry Ford for a ride in the Spirit of St. Louis. It was Ford’s first flight.
If you ever go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., you can see the Spirit of St. Louis. After his American tour, Lindbergh went on a tour of Central America and South America. Almost a year later, in April 1928, Lindbergh presented his historic plane to the Smithsonian.
Don’t you know his mama was pleased!
I hope you have a sweet day encouraging your own “Sonny Boys” and “Darling Gals”!
The heavens tell of the glory of God;
And their expanse declares the work of His hands.
Psalm 19:1