It must happen to us all . . . we pack up what we’ve learned so far and leave the familiar behind. No fun, that shearing separation, but somewhere within, we must dimly know that saying goodbye to safety brings the only security we’ll ever know.

Richard Bach is an American author and a former USAF fighter pilot, Air Force captain, and latter-day barnstorming pilot. Bach is known for his 1970s bestsellers, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. A writer of both fiction and nonfiction flight-related books, Bach utilizes real-life events in his semi-autobiographical works to impart philosophical wisdom regarding humans’ physical limitations.