Blue Skies and Long Runways

Kathleen Lux hails from a family lineage of proud military service, and joins the United States Air Force in 1977 to add, as she describes it, a little adventure to her life. Now retired as a colonel after thirty years in nursing -- often serving as a flight nurse -- Lux reveals how she is forced to grow up quickly if she hopes to remain, and excel, in the Air Force. In this coming-of-age collection of humorous, candid, and provocative vignettes, Lux holds nothing back as she recalls caring for patients immediately after a terrorist attack in Germany, handling an emergency egress from a burning aircraft, and even refusing a direct order from a four-star general. At times the weight of her decisions and the inescapable memories of what she's witnessed seems overwhelming. Not until Lux, herself, receives a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress does she allow the journey of self-forgiveness and healing to begin.