Donor Stories

The Peace of Mind of Having a Plan

Do you have a photo of a loved one that you hold dear? For Docent Steve Little, it's a photo of his mother, Margaret, stepping aboard a shiny Northwest Airlines plane in 1935, smiling and, in his words, "dressed to the nines."

It would be decades later he'd discover the plane in the photo was the same Electra Model 10E in the Great Gallery of The Museum of Flight. The same type of plane Amelia Earhart used on her fateful round-the-world flight. He made the discovery after researching the number "67" on the plane's fuselage. Suddenly, a piece of aviation history he'd walked past hundreds of times had a very personal connection.

Steve was just 19 when his mother died. His father would follow a few years later. Losing both his parents in just a few short years made him realize early on the importance of preparing for the future and making a will.

"It's so easy to ignore, but something can happen," says Steve.

Though Steve had put together a will and estate plan 20 years ago, he realized it needed to be reviewed and updated. Family situations had changed, and he had a new grandson. The Museum of Flight's free Estate Planning series offered him the perfect opportunity to draw up a new plan for the people and causes important to him like the Museum.

"You might think the Museum is an odd place to come to for this information, but you're not getting biased information. The Museum isn't selling a product. I trust what the Museum does. They provided good reliable resources I could check out and talk to confidentially, and I didn't have to go find those resources on my own," says Steve.

So, what's his advice for people who keep putting off making a will? "You think 'Oh, I don't want to think about that', but get it done and then you don't have to think about it. Don't wait until you're 70."

As for the Museum's Electra 10E, the model of plane Amelia Earhart made famous, it will always be a special place to remember his own "adventurous" mom, taking her first flight. "She loved flying. And my mother's middle name was Amelia. How's that for a coincidence?"

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