space shuttle challenger: where were you january 28, 1986?
DESCRIPTION
As the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster nears, Gen Xers across the U.S. remember where they were on January 28, 1986.TRANSCRIPT
Where
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were you?
We will never forget
them, nor the last time
we saw them, this
morning, as they
prepared for the journey
and waved goodbye
and slipped the „surly
bonds of earth‟ to
„touch the face of God.‟
—President Reagan,
January 28, 1986
Once upon a time, Once when you were mine I remember skies, Reflected in your eyes I wonder where you are. I wonder if you Think about me Once upon a time In your wildest dreams —Your Wildest Dreams, The Moody Blues, 1986
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I arrived on the beautiful blue planet in 1967.
Two years later, man landed on the moon. This
would become my earliest memory. I am in
my father’s arms and I am looking up at the moon
from our front yard in Los Angeles. My father says a
man is walking on the moon, and I say, Daddy, I
can’t see him.
In 2007, I started blogging about Generation X.
By broadest definition, Gen X includes those born
between 1961 and 1981. Experts in generational
theory believe the Space Shuttle Challenger was
a key moment in the lives of Gen Xers. They say it
contributed to our distrust of large institutions.
I was a freshman in college when the Space
Shuttle Challenger exploded. My friends and I
were gathered around a console TV in the in the
student union building. We watched in disbelief as
seven astronauts perished before our eyes.
Twenty-five years have come and gone since that
day, and not in my wildest dreams did I ever think
the time would pass this fast.
Last week, I asked Gen Xers from around the
country where they were on January 28, 1986.
Here is what some of them had to say.
Photos courtesy NASA
Becky Sturm StormSister Spatique
I wasn‟t at school, but at home, watching before I went to
work. I will never forget that day. It was so exciting. Lift-off. The
camera watching the crowd. Split screen. Half of the screen
showing the shuttle careening through the sky The other half
on the audience who had come to see this historic event. It
was very disturbing watching the faces of the bystanders as
they realized something had gone horribly wrong.
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Dan Greenberg Massachusetts In January 1986, I was finishing my undergraduate engineering
degree, and I fulfilled a lifelong desire to interview at NASA.
Returning from the interview, I called my mother in Crestfallen
and said, "They are so poorly managed I don't know how they
get men in space."
That was January 14, 1986. I watched the Challenger explode
14 days later on TV in my fraternity house...
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Brian Bellmont Co-creator of GenXtinct.com
Co-author, Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?
I was a senior in high school, and what struck me most
viscerally then - and what sticks with me to this day - was the
camera trained on Christa McAuliffe‟s parents as they
watched from the bleachers at Kennedy Space Center. It was
supposed to document their soaring elation, but instead
captured their slow - agonizingly slow - realization that
something was desperately wrong...
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Once the world was new
Our bodies felt the morning dew
That greets the brand new day
We couldn't tear ourselves away
I wonder if you care
I wonder if you still remember...
—Your Wildest Dreams, The Moody Blues, 1986
Jennifer Hancock The Humanist Approach to Happiness I was working in an electronics store when the shuttle
exploded. I was two years out of high school and working my
way through a junior college at the time. I remember having
to watch it explode on the bank of TV sets we had on display
over and over and over again…
What I take away from that disaster is just how exceptionally
courageous some people are in their service to others...For
me, the crew of Challenger were heroes...
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Holly Branch Virginia
...I was 10 years old and in the 5th grade. I remember what I was
wearing, where I sat in my class. I can still see the day‟s lesson
on the chalkboard and smell my teach Mrs. Brunnel‟s perfume.
We did not have electricity at home and I remember waking up
that morning so excited about going to school to see television.
I can remember hearing the countdown and becoming very
excited when the smoke began to billow from beneath the
engines and begin its ascent into space. I remember saying to a
classmate “Wow that is so cool! I wish I could be Mrs. McAuliffe.”
No sooner had I said that the Challenger exploded. This was a
very traumatic experience for me. It has been nearly 25 years
and as I type this I am once again in tears…
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Marianne O’Hare Connecticut
I was live on the radio with a young intern from Trinity College
in Hartford. Since it was the teacher in space shuttle mission,
we were carrying it live even though WHCN-FM was a rock
station. We went from a live break in the music to carrying the
launch to ongoing news coverage of the event afterwards.
Such a riveting event. So tragic. My intern was unflappable. A
cancer survivor who had lost her leg to the disease, she was
my rock that day.
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Christina Sleeper Sleeper‟s Magic Rub
I was a college student at the University of Cincinnati on January 28,
1986. That day, I was in between classes and thought I would go grab a
coffee at the student union…there was a television tuned to the
shuttle...I remember what seemed like a forever wait until the time of
liftoff, then within a few seconds the Challenger was in the sky and the
broadcasters were speaking about what a beautiful day for a launch
and then all of the sudden something did not look right. For a very long
moment we did not know what happened…
“And, I am not sure off the top of my head if Chernobyl followed this
tragedy or came before, I just remember that with the Chernobyl
disaster and Khadafy and the advent of regular terrorist events like the
hostage taking of tourist cruise ships and so many other terrible, terrible
international events, the Challenger explosion was like finding out there
is not a Santa Caus. It really took a part of hope away from me.
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Deborah K. Becker Wisconsin
As our last Space Shuttle keeps juggling the date for its final
mission, I am constantly reminded of my whimsical decision to
skip yet another day of my junior year at Jefferson High School
on 1/28/1986. Licking Cheeto paint off my fingers and wasting
the day away on our ratty old sofa, I settled on TV coverage
of the Challenger's launch.
I didn't know what to do with myself after watching it
disintegrate. At 16, the failure of the shuttle was, for me,
somehow tied to my country's vulnerability in the remnants of
the Cold War. I'd just watched lives cease to exist on national
television and couldn't call my parents for solace because
they'd destroy me if they found out I was truant...
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Leslie Cranford Texas
I was a very young DJ on KSEL-FM in Lubbock at the time. It had
been a typical morning, except for the anticipation of the launch...I
could see the small black and white TV through the large double-
paned window between the studio and the news booth. I wasn't
looking up when the explosion happened, but I heard my colleague
hollering, "It blew up! It blew up!" ...I remember having to gather my
composure as I had to go on the air…
On Saturday morning, Feb. 1, 2003, enjoying my coffee and
catching up with email, I had a call from my ex-husband (who I had
been dating at the time of the Challenger disaster). “Do you have
the TV on?,” he asked. “Columbia has exploded over Texas.” I turned
on CNN, sunk to the couch and sobbed. Everything I had felt during
the Challenger disaster came flooding back to me…
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A Salvation Army band played
And the children drank lemonade
And the morning lasted all day,
All day
—From Dream Academy and
Life in a Northern Town, 1986
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Michael A. Misetic Illinois
I was in the fourth grade and it was my 10th birthday. It was supposed to be an
exciting day. My teacher, Mrs. Stalke, had reserved the television for our class so we
could watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. My mom was allowing five
of my friends to come by the house after school for a little birthday party. Mom also
made cupcakes the night before for me to take to school and share with the class.
Mrs. Stalke thought it would be a nice treat to enjoy as we watched the launch of the
shuttle.
We anxiously waited with cupcakes in hand. Life was good. My age had finally
reached the double digits. We had TV in the classroom, cupcakes to eat and a break
from our school work. What more could a 10-year-old ask for? 3-2-1 blast off. We sat at
the edge of our seats and cheered. Those cheers quickly turned to confusion and
sadness. I don't remember much else from that day, other than a lot of silence.
I still had my party after school, but it wasn't full of the fun and games that had been
planned. The wiffle ball and basketball was replaced by replays of the disaster. The six
of us - Mike, Ricky, Glenn, James, Jonathan and Phil - matured quite a bit that day. We
realized there were a lot more concerning issues in life than who gets to bat first and
whether or not Ricky's foot was on the line.
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Kyle Miller Game Creature
I was at work when I heard about it - someone had heard
about it on the radio. My first reaction was one of dismay -
that someone had heard wrong. The reason was that I had
previously worked at NASA (on the Columbia missions) and I
knew that NASA had back-ups for the back-ups of their back-
ups and the astronauts were drilled for any contingency. If
they had even a moment to act, there could have been a
way for them to separate the orbiter and comeback safely to
Earth. When the facts finally game out, I understood that the
explosion came without a moment's notice. The tragedy
affected me deeply.
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Jeff Lewis Group M, Inc.
I was watching the shuttle launch on TV when it exploded. I was home
after having taken an 11th-grade mid-term Math exam that morning. I
had always been particularly interested in the NASA space program.
And at that time I was also very interested in Florida's weather, because
my family was due to visit Orlando in a few weeks. I recall the launch
had been scrubbed from the day before (I think) due to extreme cold
temperatures (I remember seeing news footage of icicles hanging from
oranges in Florida). That morning my mom mentioned she thought the
flight had been cancelled again since it was still cold, but when I sat
down to watch TV I saw the launch.
The explosion literally blew me out of my chair. To this day, if I watch a
shuttle launch, I always brace myself around the 1:10 mark in
anticipation that something can soon wrong. It is still painful for me to
recall it each year, as January 28th also happens to be my birthday. I
always pause for a moment of silence and remember the crew.
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Dana Marlow Maryland Accessibility Partners
They grouped the three 4th grade classes together into the
largest classroom. We all sat on the floor while they wheeled in
a small TV on a cart for all of us to watch. We had been
discussing it for weeks and they tied it into science and math
class lessons. Then we watched. And gasped. And cried. They
wheeled the TV on the squeaky cart back out and the
teachers discussed it with us. It was so tragic and so sad.
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John E. Citrone Editor, Xomba.com
A sophomore at the University of Florida in Gainesville, I was
making my way home from class on the morning of Jan. 28,
1986. It was close to lunchtime, and I was headed to the
cafeteria near my dorm for a bite before what might have
been a long nap. But there was that monster of a cloud
above, spreading its tentacles and throbbing a pale orange.
I stood for a moment, trying to find my place in the moment,
then ran into the café, where the little wall-mounted TV
broadcast the horrible reality. The shuttle was gone, as were
her seven crew members…
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Sean M. Wood Texas
I was a freshman at Texas Wesleyan College in Fort Worth. I
was walking through the lounge of our dorm on the way to
the dining hall to eat an early lunch. The novelty of shuttle
launches was wearing off by this time, yet the networks were
not yet bored with them. So I stood there for a few minutes
watching the launch and I saw it blow up. I remember the
announcers being at a loss for words as the two smaller
rockets went spiraling off in different directions, a giant cloud
where the main booster and Challenger had been. I
continued to watch, not believing what had just happened. I
couldn't leave until I heard the announcers say the shuttle had
blown up…
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Tamara I was senior in high school in PE class waiting with a bunch of other girls
for the teacher to show up in the weight room. She was usually a
stickler for punctuality, not known for much compassion or being
fazed by much of anything. So when she showed up looking dazed
and confused, we knew something unusual had happened. She just
kind of stood mutely in the door with a blank stare swaying unsteadily.
Several of us asked her if she was OK...and then she dropped the
bombshell, "The Challenger exploded," she mumbled dazedly…
As the aftermath developed with the investigation, I would say all the
debate about the cause and the O-ring made me aware for the first
time that there is a lot of passing the buck in government… It was also
my introduction to the fact that in government operations, cost
cutting often supersedes safety or concern for human life and
welfare…
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...And when the music plays
And when the words are
Touched with sorrow
When the music plays
I hear the sound
I had to follow...
—Your Wildest Dreams, The Moody Blues, 1986
D. Jill Pugh Seattle
I was a junior in high school in Bellevue, Washington, and I was in my
math class, taught by one of my favorite teachers Dan Reeder. We
did not have a TV in our classroom, but we all learned of the
Challenger explosion over the intercom system. Our teacher was
instantly shaken and had to step outside the classroom. As I recall, he
had been one of the finalists to be the teacher on that shuttle. I don't
know how far in the process he had gone…
My dad is an aerospace engineer, so I had been following the news
about the launch before this. It was very upsetting…I remember
watching the footage again and again as every news cast replayed
it, and thinking that could have been Mr. Reeder.
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Nichole Santoro I was in 8th grade and the school secretary wheeled in a
television to the classroom…when we saw it explode, we were
all confused until a kid asked, “So, are the astronauts ok?”
Visibly upset, both our classroom teacher and school secretary
tried to explain as best they could the tragedy that had just
occurred. It was my first experience really witnessing such a
horrifying national event. And one of the first times I witnessed
mentors who were just as shaken up as we were, not really
able to quite comprehend the meaning behind what had
happened. A couple years later, my mom began teaching at
Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, and always remained
inspired by Christa's bravery and leadership.
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Lucinda Ellison
I was a young newspaper reporter working in a bureau at The
Kansas City Star. I remember our bureau chief running out of
her office yelling, “Turn on the TV, the shuttle exploded!" We
turned on the television in the common area and gathered to
watch the coverage - the explosion was almost instantly
replayed. Of course, immediately, we were scrambling to call
any area experts to get local commentary. The tragedy and
magnitude of the event were somewhat delayed for me
personally as the adrenaline kicked in and I didn't have time
until that night to absorb the emotional impact to our national
psyche.
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Chris Ward Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc
I was 9 years old when the Challenger exploded. The school had set up a
television in the cafeteria at Whittier Elementary School…By this time I
aspired to be an astronaut myself. My uncle, a test pilot in the Air Force,
showed me pictures of shuttle launches as I grew up from infancy…
This was an unusual mission because Christa McAuliffe would be the first
teacher in space. My teacher, Mrs. Joy, let those of us who were interested
watch the launch. I was surprised by how few of the students were there…
like the rest of the world, watched in horror as the Challenger exploded.
…It did not take long before the jokes came. I remember , “What does
NASA stand for? Need Another Seven Astronauts.”
We will never forget all those that give their lives in pursuit of space
exploration.
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John Boyd, Founder Meeting Wave
I remember that day well. I was hanging out on the first floor of Zeta
Psi's fraternity townhouse at Columbia U…with a friend who was close
to Ron McNair, who was a student of my friend's father at MIT, but also
the karate instructor of my friend, his brother and father. We were
watching since my friend was thrilled that his karate mentor and friend
was going to be on the flight.
I'll never forget the disbelief, shock and sorrow when we realized what
happened. It was a sad day for many. I also recall President Reagan's
speech shortly thereafter. “The crew of the space shuttle Challenger
honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never
forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they
prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and „slipped the surly
bonds of earth to touch the face of God…‟”
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Heather Minsky Nottingham Nottingham Consulting Group I remember it like it was yesterday. My father has worked for NASA for the past
24 years and seeing the shuttle launch was always so thrilling to me. I was in
second grade. Our class went outside to watch the shuttle take off and I
remember an intense anticipation because I knew that this was the year that
they had…the first teacher in space… As we saw the shuttle take off, it began
as normal as the rest of the launches we‟d seem. Then, something appeared to
go terribly wrong. There was an explosion and all you could see was an eerie
looking cloud of smoke.
I remember thinking that it did not look normal, and looked over at my teacher
to see the horrified expression on her face. We were all asking if that was
supposed to happen. I even saw what looked like parachutes coming down
from the area of the blast. I thought that maybe some of the crew had gotten
out alive. I later learned that the entire crew had perished in the explosion. It
was a very sad day.
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Don't get me wrong
If you say "Hello" and I take a ride
Upon a sea where the mystic moon
Is playing havoc with the tide
Don't get me wrong
—From The Pretenders, 1986
Sarah Chicago Suburb, 1986
We were eating lunch in the junior high cafeteria when the
gym teacher came in to announce the explosion. Looking
back, I don't think any of us really absorbed what had
happened. Space travel had already become normal for us--
even the oldest kids in the room had been born after the
moon landing--to the extent that if Sally Ride, the first non-
astronaut on the shuttle, hadn't been involved, we might not
have noticed there was a launch at all.
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Kevin Johnson Tech Image
I'll never forget this moment. It was nondescript in that I was in my
apartment with my wife and infant son in Champaign, Illinois, but the
memory is seared because of what I was about to do. My wife and I
had just returned from a glorious three-day trip to New Orleans to see
the Chicago Bears triumph glorious in Super Bowl XX. In fact, I was sick
as a dog that morning. The revelry (too many Hurricanes) and the
drive back had wiped me out.
When I got up in the morning of January 28th, the first thing and only
thing on my mind to do was putting in the VCR of the game and
watching it from start to finish. I got out of bed...turned on the TV and
immediately put the tape in. By the time the tape had entered the
VCR and settled---that's when the image of the cloud of smoke
coming from the Challenger appeared on my TV screen...I didn't
watch the video of the Bears triumph until a few days later.
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D.J. Verret, MD Texas
I was in 4th grade at the time and doing some research in the
school library. The librarian had a television in her office and
she let us watch the space shuttle take off. I was actually
working on an Apple IIe computer at the time and still
remember the layout of the room to this day.
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Jessica Tryzna I was born in 1976 and was in 3rd grade when the Challenger went
up. We were in the midst of lunch in the cafeteria when it exploded.
The principle came on the intercom and made the announcement.
As soon as we got back, they wheeled TVs (with a fuzzy, grainy
picture) into our classrooms to watch...it made me...address death,
which was something I hadn't done at that point in my life.
One of the reasons our school and town was so interested was
because my second grade teacher, Mrs. Druck, had applied to be
the teacher to go into outer space on the Challenger...The year
before, when I was in her class, we spent a great deal of time learning
about space...It was just such a shock after all that, to see it blow up in
front of your eyes at 10 years of age.
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Richard Laermer 2011: Trendspotting for the next decade
Back then I was a writer for USA Today inside the penthouse of
the Sherry Netherland hotel where doyenne and theater
goddess Lucille Lortel lived. She was telling me about the
theater being named for her on Christopher Street---and what
types of awards and grants she would give. An aide walked in
(it was huge so we could hear footsteps for aisles!) and
announced the disaster. Lucille, since deceased, stopped
what I'd found to be insistent name dropping, and said to no
one: 'Oh dear. ' Then 'Now where was I?;
I'd never forget this.
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No more sadness, I kiss it good-bye The sun is bursting right out of the sky
We've got no future, we've got no past
Here today, built to last
In every city, in every nation
From Lake Geneva to the Finland station
(How far have you been?)
—From the Pet Shop Boys and
West End Girls, 1986
Steve
I had just graduated MIT and was rooming with another MIT
grad student majoring in Aeronautics & Astronautics who had
hoped to become an astronaut. Beyond the shock everyone
felt that day, there was a profound sadness for his now
dubious future that he had worked so assiduously to
prepare for.
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Joanne Stanway Massachusetts I was working as an assignment editor for WLNE-TV in Providence,
Rhode Island in 1986...we had a live feed coming into the newsroom.
A group of us wanted to watch and knew instantly that something
had gone wrong.
I can still see the white pattern of smoke in my mind's eye and
remember how shocked we were, especially since Christa McAuliffe
was a New Englander and a teacher and a civilian. Christa's mother's
expression when she realized what happened is also something I'll
never forget…
The explosion did not change my view about the government or the
space program except that it was the first time I felt that the space
program was dangerous and not something perfect and magical…
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Amanda
I was 9 years old and in third grade when the Space Shuttle Challenger
exploded. Many of the students at my elementary school were excited
about the launch because our first grade teacher had applied for and
made it to the final interview process for the position that was given to
Christa McAuliffe. All of the students assembled in the auditorium where
the news coverage was projected on a larger screen.
As children who had never experienced a space shuttle launch, I don‟t
think we knew what to expect. However, our teachers knew right away
that something wasn‟t right when the fireball came onto the screen. At first
there was silence, then they quickly escorted us from the auditorium back
to our classrooms. There wasn‟t really any discussion about what
happened.
Its hard to believe that were approaching the 25th anniversary. Time really
does fly.
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Brian Schar California
I was going to college at the time, studying aerospace
engineering, believe it or not. A friend ran out of the dorm, as I
was walking in, to tell me the Shuttle just blew up. I thought he
was playing a prank, and didn't believe him, or believe that it
was possible. Then he took me into the lobby and showed me
what was on TV to prove it. I was shocked to say the least.
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Eileen Wolter I was 14, home watching on TV with my older sister, 15; younger bro, 6
and sis, 5. It was the most shocked I'd ever been. Weirder than
watching the whole Reagan thing unfold. Maybe because I was older
or because space travel still seemed (even now seems!) so sci-fi. Also
that a teacher was on board was even weirder as my mom was a
teacher. Nowadays there'd be grief counselors available for everyone
to talk to at school, but back then, and especially as my parents
aren't the kind to really discuss how outside events made you feel, it
wasn't really discussed in a way that connected to me personally. A
few years ago when my hub, son and I were at Walt Disney World we
saw a shuttle taking off over the lake at Epcot. I still found myself
doing a little atheistic prayer in my head that it wouldn't blow up.
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Larry Williams, Author Customer Service A to Z
The morning of January 28, 1986 was like any other morning for me, except for the fact that I
was just days away from completing my two-week notice with my current employer, The
Southland Corporation. I worked in the accounting offices and was excited because, just two
weeks earlier, I accepted a position to work in the Payroll Department of the Rockwell
International Corporation. Rockwell is the company who built the Space Shuttle Fleet for NASA.
Here on the West Coast, we were barely getting into our daily routine of the usual desk
assignments, telephone support and coffee when all of a sudden my accounting manager,
Bonnie, walked out of her office with a stunned look on her face and said, “The Space Shuttle
just blew up!” Of course, we all asked what happened and she filled us in. Next, all eyes turned
to me as my co-workers were aware of my job at Rockwell.
I too was stunned. I excused myself from work for the day and went home where I was glued to
the television set and the repeated replays of the disaster and aftermath of reported segments.
It was something that I just couldn‟t wrap my mind around. Space Shuttles just don‟t blow up.
By the following week, I had reported to work at Rockwell to a very solemn environment. There
was much consoling amongst employees as they tried to put their best face on to welcome
me, the new hire, to their department.
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Once upon a time
Once beneath the stars
The universe was ours
Love was all we knew
And all I knew was you…
—From the Moody Blues and
Your Wildest Dreams, 1986
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