Suzanne Fleming:  

After 35 years as an air traffic controller, I am loving retirement. I worked in several different control towers. The tower controllers are the ones that say "cleared for takeoff" and "cleared to land". It was a great career and I saw many changes over the years. I worked during the Reagan strike in 1981, the Sept 11, 2001 disaster, Super Bowls in New Orleans, Final Four events, and many other challenging times. In 2005 I transferred to a tower in Addison, Texas, which is another suburb of Dallas. Addison is only 10 square miles and has a city law that there will never be any fast food restaurants with drive thru facilities. Can you imagine no McDonalds? In Addison there are 167 restaurants! It is common to drive to Addison for dinner. I was planning for retirement and wanted to be close to my one son and grandson here. I now live in McKinney which is a far north suburb of Dallas. In 2010 we were #5 on the Money Magazine best places to live in America. I remember when I-45 was called Hwy 75. From downtown Dallas going north, it is still called Hwy 75, or as the locals say Central Expressway. McKinney is about 40 miles north of downtown. I have enjoyed domestic traveling since retirement. It was thrilling to see 3 space shuttle departures in Florida. During the count down, I heard a voice in my head say "cleared for takeoff". Some things jus...Expand for more