It's hard to believe that 25 years ago this happened. I was a freshman at UVM & had just sat down in my Education class in the Living/Learning Center. A sophomore named Kiersten who was in my small group came in and told Christina, Allison & I that the space shuttle has exploded. I can still see the room we were in, as well as the stunned expressions on everyone's face.
It was all over the news for days, especially stories about Christa McAuliffe. Her hometown of Concord is only 2 1/2 hours away from Burlington & all of New England claimed her as their own. A friend's college roommate knew her well as she had been in her class at Concord High School.
I teared up today watching the video footage---not just for the 7 lives that were lost, but for those who witnessed it. For the family members. To see your loved ones death on the evening news over & over again has got to be beyond horrible. May they know peace.
Where were you 25 years ago today?
I was in 5th grade, and we were doing a unit on space. I remember the whole fifth grade had gathered in our common area to watch it. I don't think the magnitude of what happened hit us then. We were just dorky kids who wanted to get out of class.
ReplyDeleteI had just finished college in December and had a job interview in Toccoa, Georgia. I remember it was 7 degrees that morning in my hometown, Anderson, SC. So cold! I drove to Toccoa for the interview. I was driving home over the mountains in the old car my parents had handed down to me that only had an AM radio. I was listening to talk radio coverage of the launch. They had a "Play by Play" guy and an "Expert" commentator. The PbP guy says "We have solid rocket booster separation." The expert guy says "No, it's too early for SRB sep. Something's wrong." It was so surreal to hear it like that and later see it on tv. I remembered that several years earlier, I was in the same car and had gone to Del Taco after school. Sitting in the parking lot of that Del Taco, I had listened to the very first Space Shuttle launch on that same AM radio.
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