Who remembers where they were the first time?

[Ysobelle]

I was in Chemistry class. January 28th, 1986.

Today, I didn't wake up til 1, after being up all night with a Stockwood script. I didn't know til I checked my email. Now I'm watching the inevitable, endless commentary on ABC and wondering if we'll ever know what happened.

This is really not the kind of thing one wants to relive.

[vanessa]

I, too, was in chemistry class. The teacher had brought in one of those A/V television sets so we could all watch the launch.... :cry:

[Wench Shaelyn]

I think I was in kindergarden when it happened, I just remember comming home and my mom telling me that the space shuttle had a problem and it crashed. Granted I never understood that until I was older and realized what happened to a fuller extent. I think that has something to do with my odd fasination with plane crashes, well that and the fact my entire life has been spent aroudn airports. Due to the fact my mom works for the airlines.

[jillian]

I was in Natural Science class - 7th grade. Oddly enough - the same age my nephew - who lives in East Texas in the path of the crashsite - is now.

What a rotten thing to happen. My heart goes out to their friends and families.

[Ariyana Dragonwagon]

Ummm First of all.. I have to say it.. you guys are making me feel OLD!!
:shock: :stunned:

When the first shuttle blew up I already had a kindergardener, whom I had decided to send to school a bit late that day so he could watch history happen... little did I know just how historic it would be!!

So I was at home... in the dining room, and much older than all of you kids... :wink:

Luckily I know a few of the more seasoned wenches ( yes That's what we are.. SEASONED! :aok: )
Will chime in here eventually with some more memories that will make me feel better....

This morning? I was at an elementary girls basketball game watching my youngest daughter and team win thier first game of the season! Huzzah to the Cannelton Elementary girls and to my daughter Chelsea!
I was sitting next to the school principal and she recieved a phone call. I heard her so oh no.. oh my God and I thought soemthing had ahppened at the school or with her mother or family. Hate to say it, when she told me, I was relived it was not as close to home as what I had imagined... But nonetheless still a devastaing event...
I have yet to be at home to watch news though I did check MSNBC.com once this afternoon. I am at work now, started today at 7 saw 2 basketball games, my kids bowl and have gone to work.. sheesh tired.. and this is after a 6 am to 1 am day yesterday... :?
My heart goes out to the families and to all of us this has affected in anyway

[Janelle of Warren]

You're not alone Ariana. I too, was older when the Challenger was lost. It was my first year of teaching (special ed in an elementary school) I was in my classroom working on feeding skills with one of my students who had difficulty swallowing. The rest of my class was in the cafeteria. A staff member came in and told me what had happened. As someone noted above, many of the classes were watching the launch on TV, all excited about Christa McCauliff. I had a really hard time holding it together for my class.

When I woke up this morning, they were announcing that communication with the shuttle had been lost. Within a few minutes, it became clear from the vapor trail and the accounts of eyewitnesses that Columbia had been lost with all aboard. It took me right back to 1986. All I could think was, "Oh, God, not another one." :cry:

I've been watching on TV and reading on the net about the reactions in Israel and India, as they have lost their own people too. One of the women on the shuttle was born in India, and, of course, the first Israeli in space died today. To the children in their countries, they were every bit as much heroes and role models as Christa McAuliff was to the school children of the USA. My heart goes out to all of them, to all Americans and to all of the astronauts' families. May this tragedy bring us all closer together, rather than further dividing us.

[Gretchen]

This is really not the kind of thing one wants to relive.

How very true. :( We were flying to Miami to help my younger brother and his wife move into their new home. While in the air, we could see the shuttle just after it had taken off, and watched it until it was out of sight. We didn't know anything had happened until later, when we saw it on the TV. It was soo sad. Hugs and Prayers to all who grieve, then & now.

Gretchen

[Tink]

I was getting off my school bus, freshman year of high school when I heard it on the radio.

[Alianne]

I was in our first apartment. My husband was out applying for a job (he'd been laid off after the holidays that year).

Our son was exactly 6 weeks old that day.

We're space buffs, so I had been planning on watching the Challenger launch that morning, only to have my plans foiled by -- of all things -- a Welcome Wagon lady who had come to make a 'New Baby' visit. She stayed about an hour.

As soon as she left, I turned on the tv.....to see the footage of the Challenger exploding over and over and over. The baby was happily content in his playpen by then and I immediately turned to CNN, horrified.

Today, my plan was to quickly get directions to get to the Stockwood Volunteer moot and head out early (even though I'd been up most of last night/this morning with a sick kid). I went to Yahoo to go to maps and saw the headline saying 'Radio Contact with Shuttle Columbia lost'. This was around 10 am EST. After clicking on it, I immediately told my husband to turn on CNN -- this would not be newsworthy if something bad hadn't happened.

I then turned back to my sons, watching anime on the living room tv. I got them to change the channel to CNN, and again, saw footage of a shuttle appearing to break up in flight.

I looked at them. The baby who was 6 weeks old in 1986 is now a 17 year old young man (and sick as a dog).... my youngest, who will be 13 this week, was still years away from even being born then.

We watched together, talking about the Challenger, about Christa McCauliffe....about the astronauts who are their father's and my ages...about the spouses, children and families left behind....about the Israeli officer onboard. We talked about the fact that one of the items he took aboard was a Torah that had been hidden and preserved during World War II by a Holocaust survivor-- that one of the most sacred artifacts of our faith, one even more special because of how it survived, was lost forever as well.

I told them to remember this day.

I never made it to the volunteer moot.

[Ysobelle]

....about the Israeli officer onboard. We talked about the fact that one of the items he took aboard was a Torah that had been hidden and preserved during World War II by a Holocaust survivor-- that one of the most sacred artifacts of our faith, one even more special because of how it survived, was lost forever as well.




Oh, no-- this I had not known.

Perhaps it's a small comfort that he died with it in his posession. That it went with him, wherever it is he went. I only hope, truly, they didn't know, didn't have time to fear.

Brave souls.

[Bonnie]

Um...not to sound ignorant, but what happened???????

I just got home from faire, got the kids in bed, and managed to drag myself out of bed (where I'd passed out with the kids) long enough to check email, forums, walk dog and wash face...and I find this thread.

Did a shuttle crash today??????

[Belladonna]

Yes Bonnie...Columbia exploded upon reentry into earths atmosphere above the Dallas/Ft Worth area.

I was home sick from school the day the Challenger exploded. I remember us all eing excited cause McAuliffe was on it. I was in Massachusetts at the time. I was sitting on the couch in my pj's with the blanket over me and my mom was in the living room with the reupholsterer tending to the chair. I can vividly remember watching it. Not to mention, writing a letter to her family the at school.

[Bean]

I was a junior at Syracuse University when Challenger exploded. We had just gotten back from Christmas break; the campus was a bunch of zombies all day. Anybody that showed up for classes could only talk about what happened.

Today, I had just woken up a bit after 9am and hear that NASA had lost contact with the shuttle, nothing yet about it going down. I turned on the TV about 9:40 and started to see all the video footage, I knew immediately that it had broken up. Almost 18 years to the day after Challenger.

I can only echo Ysobelle's thought that they didn't have time to fear.......

Betsy

[DreaBeth]

I remember it like yesterday... I was a senior in college, getting ready to to to class. The TV in our apartment was on because on of my roomates, an education major, was taking special interest in the launch because one of her mentors had been a "teacher in space" finalist. I remember it being totally surreal... I went to class and remember telling people that the shuttle had blown up, not sure if I'd seen it or imagined it. It didn't really hit home until later in the day, after dinner, watching the evening news in the library lobby with half the campus. Seeing the story on the news suddenly made it real.

This morning the first thing I heard, before I was even out of bed, was my son telling me they'd lost contact with the shuttle. I didn't think much about it because I was half asleep, but later on we heard the news on the radio. About that time my son noticed that flags were flying at half mast. The conversations we have over the next few days will be interesting, I'm sure....


Andrea
#1025
aka Geneva

[Ysobelle]

Some of you may remember the following poem from being paraphrased by President Reagan the day the Challenger exploded. A friend of mine sent it to me today, and, sadly, it's just as poignantly apropos now as it was then.

A picture of the young man can be found at http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/jgm.htm




John Gillespie McGee, Jr. was an 18-year-old American when he joined
the Royal Canadian Air Force and went to Britain in October 1940,
during World War II. He flew in a Spitfire squadron and was killed at
age 19, on December 11, 1941, during a training flight from the
airfield near Scopwick, Lincolnshire. This poem was written on the
back of a letter to his parents which stated, "I am enclosing a verse I
wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet, and was finished soon
after I landed."

***********
HIGH FLIGHT - by John Gillespie McGee, Jr.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

[Devon Dalaigh]

I was in my freshman year of college - and for some reason I was watching tv at home that day..... I just couldn't believe it ! All I could think of was --> "Their poor families - they are watching this too !"
=========================
This morning it really hit home.... my boyfriend and I had bundled our little boy up in blankies (he's 3 1/2 months old) and went outside in my driveway on base to watch the sky for the Columbia's descent. I live on Keesler AFB on the Mississippi Gulf Coast - and we had a good chance of seeing it. There was supposed to be a sonic boom after it had passed us - around 8 :10 am CST. We thought maybe it hadn't passed yet or we missed it and waited for the boom - but it never came. I went in the house to check the time and heard that they had lost contact with it over Texas ! It never made it to us .... it was just sooo surreal - that we had been waiting for it and it never made it.

Again - all I could think was that all the astronauts families were waiting there at Kennedy, waiting and happy that their loved ones were almost home.... I sat watching Foxnews with tears in my eyes as I hugged my little boy and thanked the powers that my daughter was safe upstairs in bed.
I just hope that the fanmiles my find some peace in the fact that those they lost were doing what they loved. My thoughts will be with them.

[Bonnie]

oh sweet jesus.

I was out, laughing and goofing off all day, and this had been going on the whole time? It's surreal. Normal everyday life goes on all the time while trajedies happen all over the world. Most times we don't have to consider it. This time it bit me on the butt.

I was in my high school class when the first shuttle exploded. Health. The news came on over the intercom. Everyone started crying, and I do mean EVERYONE. Shuttles were still so new back then.

This is horrible. But I tell you, they all died doing what they love, living a sort of life most of us can't imagine. They were heroes more real than any superhero we watch on tv.

I will mourn the loss of the shuttle and of her crew, I will pray for the families and friends, I will, however, celebrate the spirit and the courage and the pioneering vision that led each one of them to take ship. I firmly believe that among all the sorrow and pain, pride and respect should have their place. So I will toast to that.

[Aries]

I was home from school....not sick, but I was going in late, because I wanted to watch the televised launch, after all, it was to be history in the making......little did I know to what impact.

I was in my Grandmother's kitchen, having breakfast and watching it with both Grandma and Mom...

At that time and for a long time after, I didn't think any day, any event, could have such a terrible and huge impact on my life. I wish I had been wrong...but then there was September 11....now today.

Today I didn't find out until 1:00....just oblivious really...kids T.V. on all morning (they don't break in to Nickelodeon with Newsflashes). I'm glad though really, glad I didn't have to see it "as it happened". Sad it had to happen at all...

[Amethyst]

I was *there*. My mom and I were on vacation in Florida ... she wanted me to see the shuttle take off. Having listened to the first space mission in her kitchen on the radio with her parents, this was something she wanted me to see in person. We stood there and cheered with all the others when Challenger lifted off ... and fell silent when something went terribly wrong. We cried, we hugged complete strangers, we prayed.

Yesterday morning Shel informed me what happened and I turned on the t.v. All of those feeling came flooding back. I couldn't watch for too long, it was just too painful. My prayers go out to the family and friends of those 7 very brave men & womem aboard.

Am

[Mad Kestrel]

I'm one of those less-young wenches, too...I remember watching the first moon landing on television (I think I was 6)
But the day we lost Challenger, I was in a car with my boss, having just attended an amazingly boring trade show, driving through uptown Charlotte on our way back to the office, when we heard it on the radio.

I cried then, and I'm crying now. It just isn't right, that we should lose people whose work is so truly global.

By the way, God bless the Russians for stepping up to the plate - they have already stated that if NASA cannot get a shuttle ready in time for March's flight to the Space Station, they will make sure the astronauts aboard are resupplied. Maybe there is hope for the future after all.

[Meg Hille]

I don't think I could ever forget that day I saw the Challenger on TV in a classroom full of other kids (I think I was in the 8th grade?). When it started breaking apart, the teachers in the room suddenly shut all the TVs off and we all went back to our regular classroom routine. Christa McAuliffe was a teacher from the area so the entire school, among so many others, was watching. It was a bizarre day. The school staff didn't want to let the kids know what happened because some of the students were relatives and friends of Ms. McAuliffe. Those people were sent home. None of us kids knew what was going on until after they made an announcement over the PA system. Even then, it didn't really hit me until I saw a favorite teacher of mine sobbing in the corner of the classroom. She was trying to hide the tears, but all the kids in the room knew she was crying, and that's when it became real.
And here it happens again. A strange, and horrible feeling. I truly hope the crew passed without suffering. Although their bodies have died, their spirits live on forever; and they will be remembered as heroes.

[PirateKisses]

It was my first day of beauty school and I had just gone on break and run over to a friend's house. We sat there in disbelief, watching the video replay over and over.

PK

[Morte]

oh sweet jesus.

I was out, laughing and goofing off all day, and this had been going on the whole time? It's surreal. Normal everyday life goes on all the time while trajedies happen all over the world. Most times we don't have to consider it. This time it bit me on the butt.


Bonnie-
we found out as we packed up to head out to an SCA event yesterday morning and although i thought of it throughout the day on and off i managed to put it in the "to be dealt with" part of my mind.. until at the feast our Baron, after a very long moment of silence in honor of those lost made a toast, "To those who today died doing what they love" and an eloquent young woman stood immediately after and added "May we all do what we love, today tomorrow and every day after" i say without shame that i cried during that moment of silence despite my merriness the rest of the day.. i honestly believe that the best honor we can give those who have passed on is to live our lives to their happiest and fullest while remembering their achievments

as for the first time i was in fourth grade and we were lined up to come in from recess , i was wearing the challenger earrings my father had bought me on his recent business trip to florida (small shuttle shaped studs) when they told the assembled 3rd and 4th graders the news... i can still remember looking up at the sky and fingering my earrings as they told us... Christa McCauliff was a Girl Scout and we had spent a lot of time in scouts talking about what she was doing... it's amazing how vivid those memories are...

[emalia]

The first time. I had just gotten to my new school for my first day of school after moving from Ohio to Miami. We had just settled down in our class and turned on the TV, it was the only thing I could understand what they were saying. We watched the "launch" and the news footage that followed. I kept watching the TV, while the class discussed what was going on. It was quite difficult for me as my parents woke me up for every televised launch since I was old enough to remember. That is what I wanted to do, go to space.

[justLori]

The first time, I was in a book fair in the library of our middle school. I was in eighth grade. The librarian turned on the television to watch the launch, and since we were there, we watched it too. I will never forget that.

This time, it was about 11 AM Eastern when I was playing with our new DSL and AIM's info thingy had the headline and picture that made my jaw drop. I went immediately to cnn.com and found out more. When my Merc woke up an hour later I broke it to him as well.

There are defining tragedies in every person's life. Every person who shares this time on Earth with us shares some of those tragedies with us.

I also had the wierdest thought about the shuttles yesterday, brought on by my Six Sigma training. These are incredibly complex machines, with many chances for failure. THe Space PRogram does a great job of eliminating all of those failures almost all of the time, making their machines almost 100% error-free. That fact is phenomenal. That there have been two fatal errors--and only two in the shuttle program--is something to be applauded.

This tragedy is awful. There will be lots of hyps, fear, and blame-making. However, the next shuttle that goes up (to rescue the space station people that are currently stranded there) will be that much safer because of what we learn from this tragedy.

Maybe I'm looking for the positive too early, I don't know. But there's been way too much sadness and shell-shock over recent events. THis seemed like a better way to approach it.

just Lori

[Lady Gaea]

I was in science class, and I *think* that it was 5th grade. Our teacher was a real jerk, and he got a phone call during class that he should stop class and turn on the tv so we could see what was going on. And he *didn't.* We had no idea what was happening. When the bell rang to go to the next class none of us knew why our friends were crying or why everyone was so upset. He didn't let ANY of his classes watch the tv and see what was going on. Needless to say, he had quite the angry group of parents after him when the kids got home that day.

I was in the hair salon Saturday morning, and my hairdresser asked me if I had watched the news, because she'd heard something happened, but she wasn't sure. There was a guy waiting for his haircut who had a little portable tv, so he brought it over so we could watch the news with him. I just can't believe this has happened.

Life just isn't fair....

Heather

[Alewyn of Aventinus]

When Challenger crashed, I was just heading from my office to pick up my bag lunch. I was working in the water filter plant, 499 building, at Dow Chem in Midland MI. The refriderator was in the control room. I came in the control room, the guys were always watching TV and gave me the news. I thought they were just jerking my chain like they always did and wouldn't believe them. I wouldn't even believe my boss. [He was a Jerk]. I thought it was just a joke until my co-worker returned from lunch and told me.

[cyd]

You're not alone Ariana. I too, was older when the Challenger was lost. It was my first year of teaching (special ed in an elementary school) I was in my classroom working on feeding skills with one of my students who had difficulty swallowing. The rest of my class was in the cafeteria. A staff member came in and told me what had happened. As someone noted above, many of the classes were watching the launch on TV, all excited about Christa McCauliff. I had a really hard time holding it together for my class.

When I woke up this morning, they were announcing that communication with the shuttle had been lost. Within a few minutes, it became clear from the vapor trail and the accounts of eyewitnesses that Columbia had been lost with all aboard. It took me right back to 1986. All I could think was, "Oh, God, not another one." :cry:

I've been watching on TV and reading on the net about the reactions in Israel and India, as they have lost their own people too. One of the women on the shuttle was born in India, and, of course, the first Israeli in space died today. To the children in their countries, they were every bit as much heroes and role models as Christa McAuliff was to the school children of the USA. My heart goes out to all of them, to all Americans and to all of the astronauts' families. May this tragedy bring us all closer together, rather than further dividing us.

You're not the only one who thought the "Oh God, not another one". There's a number of us who thought that.

Me, I was in 8th grade. I was in the cafeteria during break in the morning. Some idiot kid was joking about the shuttle having blown up, and since he was known for being one of those kids who lies to get attention, I ignored him entirely. Being the little geek that I was, the cafeteria ladies used to turn a blind eye to me leaving the cafeteria, because they knew I'd never get myself into trouble (and usually went down to the nurse's office to talk to a diabetic friend of mine who got her testing done at that time). Instead of heading to the nurse's office that day (my friend was absent that day), I went up to the library instead. And they had one of the AV TV's out, showing it over and over and over again... When I went home, Dan Rather was just talking about this terrible tragedy, and they kept replaying the horrible "Y" shaped smoke cloud...

Several things made it worse for me. First, I'd wanted to be an astronaut since I was six. Glow in the dark stars in actual constellations on the ceiling, my science faire project on black holes and quazars, Oddessy magazine, things like that. I cried when I realized what had actually happened.

Second, one of my favorite teachers from 7th grade was one of the finalists to be chosen for the mission. She knew she was too far back in the finalist picks to be chosen at the last minute, but she was down there to watch the launch. She never came back to school. And the next day our school was swamped with reporters trying to get our reactions. HOW THE HELL ARE A BUNCH OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLERS SUPPOSED TO REACT???

This time around, I woke up "early". Well, early for me on a weekend. Sometime around 10. I left Joe sleeping and went downstairs, flicked on the TV. Turned to NBC, they had some "prehistoric planet" show that was on the guide. And saw the first video footage, the one where it looked like it was heading straight down... And cried again. Brought me back to the original explosion like it was yesterday. And reminded me of all the shattered hopes and dreams...

Joe hadn't slept well the night before, so I left him sleeping until 11:30 when they were supposed to have the first televised conference (postponed). Took an extraordinary act of willpower to not run upstairs and wake him up earlier... I needed a hug.

I always wanted to be an astronaut. I became an aerospace engineer. I was in the air force. The thing that finally jumped in my way was my MS diagnosis. Yes, I'm still a "rocket scientist", but a part of me still wants to be one of them...

And if you asked me today? Despite the catastrophe, I'd still do it. If they'd let me.

My thoughts go out to the families... I didn't know a single one of them... But I KNEW them... Somewhere deep inside, I knew them... And with them, went the hopes and dreams of a lot of people everywhere...

Cyd

[Caitriona]

I remember exactly where I was when I heard about it. I was a Freshman sitting in the High School Auditorium (at the time the freshmen went to an intermediate school) with the sophomores. There was a major buzz as the news got passed from student.

I don't think there was a dry eye anywhere in the school. I spent the rest of the day in a daze, it was so hard to believe.


My son who is 6 talked to me about it this morning. He felt sad for the 7 crew members and was worried that their children would now have to go to a children's home. I didn't realize that it would affect him even at his age.

I wish the families well and echo the sentiments that the crew members passed quickly and without fear.

Caitriona
IWG#2334
Local #9

[jmthane]

Like some of the others here, my "first one" would be Apollo 1. I was born about six months after John Glenn became the first American astronaut to orbit the earth. That one I really don't remember, though.

For Challenger, I was at work. A co-worker had been listening to the radio and said "OhmyGod, the shuttle just blew up!" I asked if I could listen. Half an hour later, I was too sick to stay at work. I went home and saw what had happened.

There isn't much that will get that much of a reaction out of me, but the space program is one. I am *very much* in favor of continuing it.

Saturday, I was just about to get in the shower, my roommate had M*A*S*H on FX channel, and I noticed a bottom scroll that said something to the effect of if we wanted an update on the shuttle, we should switch over to Fox News Channel. I did. I still had to participate in and help lead the Imbolc celebration and candle making that day at a friend's house. I got up there, set up a little memorial on the altar, cried on her shoulder for a couple of minutes (and I'm about to break down again right now typing this), then carried on becuase it was needed and would help those attending. That's what performers and leaders do.

Same thing with 9/11 - KCRF was open that weekend, after much discussion about "should we go on?" The decision was "yes, because the public is going to need this." Such will always be the case, and those of us who lead, who entertain, will need to step up no matter what and do our thing. But damn, it's hard to do... :wah:

[justLori]

::hugs for Josie::

Sweetie, this is why we loves ya.

If you need to talk, you know where I am. :)

just Lori

[Aries]

I just needed to voice how wonderful I think this all is....

All of us so obviosley being so affected by this....

Having this wonderful place where we can all express our feelings...

The ability to understand "I'm not the only one"

Thank you to the Webmistress for giving us this place.

Thank you to all sister Wenches for sharing, and caring...

[cyd]

"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."

---Gus Grissom, responding to a reporter, at a press conference for the first manned Apollo mission.

[Morrigan]

I was in Art class... in High school... either junior or senior year... lol
someone walked in and said the shuttle blew up on take off... I was like yeah right.. they would of said something to the school... I get home.. turn on the TV and there it was... i was OMG... watched it for hours...

[daBaroness]

OK - now I'm *really* feeling old. I remember the first manned space shot ... John Glenn, one orbit around the Earth. I was in first grade and we gathered the entire school into the gymnasium to watch it on TV. I also remember the absolutely amazing feeling the first time we landed on the moon ... it was 1969 I think, and I was in junior high. What made it more amazing to me was that my great-grandmother, who was born in 1869 was alive to see it. Think of how amazing it was to her ... all the advances she'd seen in her lifetime!!!

I also remember the times we lost astronauts, and Apollo 13 (not the movie) when the entire world watched, prayed, and waited to see if our boys would make it safely back to terra firma - and despite all the adverse odds - they did!

Every single mission amazes me and captures my imagination ... but what can one expect from a die-hard sci-fi, trekkie, rennie, fantasy freak? I absolutely believe it is within our hearts, souls, and minds to explore, to push the envelope, and to grow. I want to choke the life outta the news media or other naysayers who immediately call for the cessation of the space program every time there is a set-back.

Not to be morbid, but in the entirety of the U.S. space program, I believe we've lost 24 people and I'll bet not one of them, given a choice, would have given up their opportunity to be explorers ... pioneers ... captors of the imagination. When compared to so many other fields of endeavor, even ones with high-risk factors, to lose only two dozen people over the course of 50 years is pretty amazing.

How many of us can say we've had the opportunity of living out our greatest dream? I personally can think of no better way to exit this earthly mantle than to do so in the pursuit of a passion ... a life-long dream. When my time comes, I believe I should like to go in my own renaissance-era village, wearing period garb, and wenching it to my last breath.

And were it me in those shoes ... I should not want for a moment that the pursuit of the unknown, the quest for knowledge, the exploration of "what's out there" cease or be delayed on my account. I doubt that's what any of the 24 gone, but not forgotten, would want either.

Finally, although I loathe George W., I have to say I his comments about the astronauts not making it safely back to Earth, but hopefully making it safely home were very touching and eloquent.

My prayers and thoughts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. May they find comfort and peace in the knowledge they were lost doing what they loved.

da Baroness

[Kiza]

Sixth grade, in an elementary school about five miles from NASA. One of my teachers husbands was an astronaught - though, thankfully, not on that particular flight - and all of the adults I knew were connected somehow to the launch, either as astronaughts, astronaughts in training, or mission control. It was devistating.

I couldn't believe it when I turned on the TV and saw it. I know I'm not the only one, but all I could think was "Oh, God - not again."

[BrianaB]

Not again, not again, Oh God, not again is all I could think Saturday morning when my Aunt woke me up to tell me what happened almost immediately after the first news reports came in from Texas.
The first time I had been in the fifth grade in Akron, OH, hometown of Judy Resnick, one of the astronauts on that mission. She was my hero at the time..I wanted to be an astronaut so much that I was already thinking of ways to get into the Air Force Academy at 11 years old. We were having silent reading time while the sixth grade classroom next to us was watching the launch on TV. We heard noise and comotion for the other room and everyone kind of looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. A minute later, our prinicpal came on the PA system to tell us what had happened. Our teacher, Mrs. May, turned white as a sheet..she had been a finalist for Ohio in the teacher-in-space program. The rest of the day, most of the school wandered aimlesly around the hallways, sometimes gathering in classrooms to watch the video, over and over again. The next day I stayed out of school because i didn't sleep that night and watched the nationally televised memorial service for Judy from my temple, with my rabbi presiding.
On Saturday, I had a full sensory flashback to that day. I swear I could hear the sounds and see the sights like I was 11 again. It was very bizarre. The I thought about the seven astronauts on board Columbia and especially Ilan Ramon, the first ever Israeli astronaut. All of Israel had been cheering on their war hero, finally a bright spot for a country with so many dark days. It just doesn't seem right. It just doesn't seem fair.
The only bright spot in all of this is that it seems instead of losing governmental support, NASA is actually strenghtening that support. The worst insult to STS-107's memory and the memory of all who have given theirs lives for exploration, space or otherwise, would be to end or diminsh the manned space flight program. We must continue to explore. It's what humans were meant to do.

[jmthane]

::hugs for Josie::

Sweetie, this is why we loves ya.

If you need to talk, you know where I am. :)

just Lori

::HUGS:: back.

Thank you, Lori - and all of you. I'm going to stray a little OT here, I hope you'll forgive me...

Last September, we learned that Jeanine Lusardi, the Dowager Countess of Lennox at Bristol, passed away. Now, this is a woman who *started* her Faire career at 70! And we thought sure she'd be the one burying us, she was as tough as boiled saddle leather. One day in the heatwave of '95, there were four court members standing by the end of the day - two that I don't remember, Mary Kababik (APQ), and Jeanine. She would run water - okay, so she didn't run, but you get the idea - she would tell you that you really need to sit down and rest, she would tell you her opinions and, if she was wrong, she was the first to admit it - to you. I have nothing but respect for Jeanine. Anyway...

Some of us who knew her from Bristol held a memorial service at MiRF for her both days of one weekend, right before Pub Sing, including Minstrosity, Molly & the Tinker, and Michigan's Tom Cat, also known as DJ (Michigan Wenches know who I'm talking about :wink: ), who had played Sir William Pickering at Bristol. We were going to sing a song during the memorial - Rod MacDonald's "A Sailor's Prayer", a favorite of hers. Well, I sing lead on that one.

I lasted four notes. My general thanks to my bandmates (who were in little better shape than I) and Molly & the Tinker (aka Diane and Brian Leo), who have done this kind of thing before and carried on. DJ was a complete wreck, same as me. That was Saturday. We didn't try a song on Sunday. If we had, I might have lasted six notes...

My specific thanks to Lady Shay, fellow Wench and Bard from Michigan, who leapt up there and gave me strength to carry on.

There was a major hugfest after the memorial each day, and boy, did we need it, those of us up there hosting the memorial. A big part of the hugfest was the Wenches and Rogues Guilds and our fellow musicians who had made it.

This is *why* we can carry on - because you're out there with us, willing us to carry on, because you need it as bad as we do, and we *all* know it. And, it's our job.

[cyd]

Josie?

*HUGS*

Cyd

[Mairi the Herbwench]

My mom intorduced me to Sci-Fi and Fantasy - Heinlein, Tolkein among others, and I became addicted to the pursuit of life in other ways and places. My family watched the moon landing - my mom made sure we understood the importance of it. She did back in 1971 when I was 15, so she never got to see the progress we've made in space.

I was at work when the Challenger exploded - had to set up patients for theur sleep studies with tears running down my face, wishing that they would all cancel and I could go home. However, life went on. This time, my husband came downstairs from watching TV, said something about the shuttle, but I was running out the door to get to a meeting. I heard the details on my car radio, and couldn't believe it. At the meeeting, we had a moment of silence, and I was able to watch the news report later.

I would give anything to go into space - I would risk my life for the opportunity to see the Earth, to experience weightlessness, to explore. I'm 47 on Saturday - I doubt I'll ever have the chance - John Glenn I'm not. We had one of the women astronauts talk at our Girl Scout Meeting several years ago, and the look of wonder on her face when she talked about the mission she flew brought tears to my eyes.

I'm seldom moved by outside events, but the loss of two shuttles, the loss of such valuble people, the loss of information, I still cry when I think about it. It's up there with the loss of my mom.

They died doing what they loved, and from reports, with some of the people they loved. That's what we have to remember, and hope that we can be so lucky.

[jmthane]

Yep - the medical profession has it worse than us entertainers. People *want* or *don't want* to see us; for you, there's frequently less of a choice. Have to carry on regardless.

:grouphug: