"There is no such thing as an ex-fighter pilot.
Once a young man straps on a jet aircraft and climbs into the heavens to do battle,

it sears his psyche forever.

At some point he will hang up his flight suit - eventually they all do -

and in the autumn of his years his eyes may dim and he may be stooped with age.

But ask him about his life and his eyes flash and his back straightens and his hands demonstrate aerial maneuvers and every conversation begins with

"There I was at ... "

and he is young again as he remembers his glory days.

He remembers the days when he sky-danced through the heavens,

when he could press a button and summon the lightning and invoke the thunder,

the days when he was a prince of the earth and a lord of the heavens.

He remembers his glory days and he is young again."

From Boyd by Robert Coram