I watched it on our rear screened in porch that had dark panelling, an avocado green “indoor outdoor” rug, on a portable black and white TV that my father had brought home from the PX in Japan on his way home from Vietnam the year before. For our neighborhood, this room was a relatively upscale amenity. I was elementary school aged. I had just had my bath and was in a nightgown. It was hot and muggy as it usually was that time of year in the upper Midwest. I watched it with my father, who drifted in and out of the house while my mother watched it inside with my younger sister. Since returning from Vietnam, that pacing was his norm. I am not sure if he actually saw the landing.
At the same time, a girl my age watched this same event some 350 miles east of me. It was this event that motivated her to become an astronaut. She worked relentlessly in high school, pumping gas in order to pay for power airplane lessons, earning an IFR rating. She put herself through college, where we met as freshman and became roommates. She made it through the grueling first year curriculum; I didn’t. Later, while working at Marshall Space Flight Center, she earned a PhD in robotics, becoming a mission specialist for NASA. Her work brought her to MIT a number of times, and we are still friends to this day. > On Jul 20, 2024, at 3:33 PM, Leslie Turek <[email protected]> wrote: > > I was in a tiny apartment in Harvard Square, watching on a tiny portable > black and white TV with my new boyfriend. > Leslie > >> On Jul 20, 2024, at 2:30 PM, Sara Mattes <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Where were you? >> https://www.space.com/see-full-buck-moon-celebrate-apollo-55-anniversary >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
