It was only a few minutes 40 years ago in the life of "Our Canada" contributor Lea MacDonald, but her memory of that 1967 morning at the Kingston airport is as important to us as it is to her, because she described a world that no longer exists.
MacDonald, then age 12, said she was at the airport that morning when an American P-51 Mustang pilot walked into the control tower.

She described him as an "older man…a quiet air of proficiency and pride devoid of arrogance," who asked if she wanted to hold a fire extinguisher while he started his plane that had once taken the Second World War to the skies over Germany.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

With no more instruction than a simple "if you see a fire, point, then pull this lever," MacDonald stood by while the plane’s Merlin engine, with flames shooting from the manifold, burst into life.

As the Mustang accelerated down the runway, the tower controller gave permission for a flyby.

Diving from the clouds at 400 mph and no more than 150 yards away, the pilot saluted MacDonald before disappearing back into history, and in its wake leaving a memory she said,  "has lasted a lifetime."

But while the memory remains, the attitudes that created it and our willingness to allow children to experience life and risk disappeared a long time ago.

From germs to strangers and bumps and bruises, children have never been more protected but have never been fatter, more medicated and maybe less well-equipped for the challenges of becoming an adult.

As the advertisement of a local summer day camp said, they promise "a summer of fun, hikes, crafts, games, scavenger hunts and science experiments," all of which kids used to do on their own, yet now require the supervision and instruction of adults.

It’s a different world, where the idea of building a fake safety village to teach kids what they should be taught by their parents and own experiences isn’t ridiculed, but the idea of strangers and salutes is.

It’s probably a safer world when 12 year olds aren’t allowed to stand beside fighter planes holding fire extinguishers, but it isn’t one that makes for better memories and maybe, not for better adults.