http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2010/05/some-of-us-are-looking-at-the-stars.html
My mom met me at the bus in our driveway that afternoon. As young students, we didn’t get to watch it in our tiny library with the older kids. Being younger, we also didn’t usually get in on the older student body’s conversations, so we didn’t hear them talking about it. One of the reasons we were so excited about it was the inclusion of Christa McAuliffe, who was a teacher. Not an astronaut, a teacher just like our teachers. I remember crying when my mom broke the news and I still get emotional each time I watch a launch. I’m always torn about whether I should tune in or not. Like Wil, I’m always holding my breath until the shuttle is miles and miles away from Earth, like there’s less chance of disaster there. And it’s always there, in the back of my mind, until I hear the report that the shuttle touched down safely once more.
It is amazing that we have sent so many humans to outer space and brought them safely home again. I’m from a generation that has always had space travel. It’s hard for me to even consider a time when there wasn’t people going up and coming down. I imagine it’s a lot like my sister’s age group (she’s nineteen years younger than I am). She was only four when the Twin Towers and the Pentagon was hit. I’ve never asked her, but I bet she has a hard time remembering when terrorism wasn’t mentioned daily.
Life marches on, whether we want it to or not. But every once in a while, it’s good to go back and remember how it was and those people who went before. The people that paved the way; did the difficult things, so that our way might be smoother and allow us to go to places and do things that was once thought impossible.
Related post: http://mandis-station.blogspot.com/2008/01/challenger-explosion-anniversary.html
