Meeting Barrington Irving

This experience was so amazing that it is hard to put into words. Where do I start? Wow....

Yesterday Barrington Irving flew into Houston and I have had a chance to spend a lot of time with the guy. Barrington is 23 and has the poise and maturity of a man far senior. He was just pulling up to the 1940 Air Museum as I got there. I have to say that Houston gave him a really awesome welcome. Tons of kids were around, and a lot of local press showed up to meet him and get interviews. The whole event was sponsored by the Association of Black Airline Pilots and Continental Airline. I thought that it was really cool that even Sheila Jackson Lee attended and gave him a very warm welcome.

Kysa was there getting him around the press and handling the logistics and it took me a while to find her. When I did, I was able to get closer to the action and the aircraft. Eventually I caught up to Barrington and had a moment for a picture with him in front of his plane. Immediately he asked me if I was the George that Holly had told him about to which I answered yes. That's about as much as we had time for before he was taken away for autographs. I went by the reception that the Jamaican Consulate had planned, but my sinuses would not let me stay.
Today I woke to a great surprise. I am so glad that I did not head out to the DZ early. I had a message from Charlie Bolden that he was back in town and had heard that Barrington was in Houston and he wanted to meet him. WOW. It's coming together....... The next message on my cell phone was from Kysa telling me that Barrington wanted to spend some more time with me over lunch and maybe I could join them because they were going to NASA. WOW, it really is coming together. Quick call to Charlie, quick call to Kysa and it's all planned. Everybody will be at the same place at the same time. Cool!

I ran over to the hotel about noon and finally had a chance to sit down with Barrington over lunch and get to know him. We talked about everything from the flight to just joking around and getting to know each other. We also exchanged ideas on the "what's next" for him and the foundation. After hearing first hand about his dream, we were able to discuss some of the solutions that might help him along the way. We also discussed the concerns and pitfalls that could be out there fairly candidly. It was good and very productive.

From there we headed out to JSC and Space Center Houston and there was Charlie when we got there. I have to say I was VERY proud to see them together. I wanted Charlie to meet Barrington as a potential mentor in the future and that is exactly what happened. They really connected and Charlie did a great job of showing us around the visitor's center and also getting to know Barrington. It could not have gone better and I owe so much to Charlie for coming out. Barrington rode back with me and we had a chance to talk even more before we said good bye.

What an amazing young man - I want nothing but the best for him as he is such an inspiration. I look forward to introducing him to "my view" of the sky during his next visit to Houston.

God Speed and Congratulations!!!!

There are far too many cool pictures to share - here is the slideshow.