response. I explained that the winds are very calm and that we could
go during the evening when the winds mostly die to dead calm.

Errrr ... might be best to avoid words like 'die' and 'dead' when trying to
convince folks nervous about flying to ride with you

I asked if she was ok, she said yes but her ears hurt.

It's important to add the question 'Does anyone have a cold / blocked nose /
blocked ears' to the pre-flight briefing (preferable earlier).

Decreasing atmospheric pressure means that the (elevated) air pressure
inside the Eustation tubes (connecting middle ear to throat) equalises
easily - however increasing atmospheric pressure due to descent tends to
clamp them shut to the point where once you feel anything more than slight
pressure it's VERY difficult to equalise them - ESPECIALLY when (a) You've
got a cold and (b) you're not used to having to equalise a lot more
agressively than you would ever do on land. (it's something us pilots do
without thinking - but it catches infrequent fliers out often - you can
easily find your self having to abort an approach and have to climb to
altitude to sort the problem out)

the runway. That happened almost immediately and I reduced power to
1500 rpm and dropped 10 degrees of flaps.

With nervous fliers I make a point of mentioning some of the sensations
they'll feel such as the nose pitching down, and the deceleration as the
aircraft is configured for the approach - also worthy of mention are a
'pre-warning' of such things as hydraulic / undercarriage sounds as the gear
retracts - undercarriage warning systems when doing take-offs with
significant flap (passengers just love a screaming buzzer coming on as the
gear retracts with flap still down) - and reduction of engine sounds as
props are retarded and take-off power reduced to climb power etc (referring
to constant speed / retractables).

All in all I'd say give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done - you
must have the patience of a saint.

I'm reminded of our old-timers 'alternate' passenger brief ...

"Sit down - buckle up - shut up - hang on"