I read a post in Facebook this morning from my sister, Connie. The following is her words:
"Just watched Nova, First Man on the Moon. It was about Neil Armstrong and the space program. I have very vivid memories of sitting in front of our small black and white tv watching a grainy image of Neil make those first steps on the Moon. I will never forget it as long as I live!! National pride was at an all time high. Sad to think where the space program is today and where our national pride stands today. Gone are the ticker tape parades, the flag waving, the sense of pride and accomplishment of a country that had a goal and achieved it. Wouldn't it be great to have that feeling back..... Waxing nostalgic tonight of greater times in our nation's history and my dad, he loved the space flights, he never missed one of them!"
I too remember watching in July of 1969 as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface. My whole family was in our living room at 2402 Himes Street in Irving, TX, glued to the TV. Back then there was no way to record a tv program. No VCR's or Tivo. My Dad had a reel to reel tape recorded. He recorded the audio of the first moon landing and Neil Armstrong's famous words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." I remember Dad telling us to pay attention, history was being made today. In 1969 I was 11 years old. It was a different time. National pride was high and everyone was talking about the space program. Everyone stopped what they were doing when NASA launched. I remember being in school and the teacher would bring in a TV and we would watch as a class. Our generation dreamed of going to space. Every young boy and even girls wanted to be astronauts and join NASA. We would lay on the grass at night and look up at the stars, knowing that a man had been to the moon and left his footprints.
We watched great movies and TV shows about space. My favorite, of course, Star Trek! Time passed and the space program evolved. I remember the excitement of the first space shuttle launch and I remember where I was when the Challenger accident happened.
I am still fascinated with space. It would be amazing to be on the moon or in orbit and look back at earth. My sister is right, it is sad where the space program is today. Scott Kelly came home yesterday from a historic stay in space. I would have loved to see him in a ticker tape parade. Thanks Sis for reminding me of a wonderful time in history we shared.
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