There are certain moments in our lives that we will never forget. One of those moments, for me, was the day the Challenger exploded. I was a sophomore in college, and had just left class to get to my part time job. I remember the weather was cold, rainy and just miserable. I remember walking into work (at that time I was a salesclerk at a major department store downtown) and there were several people gathered around in the electronics department. They were watching the tv screens. Some people were crying. Some just looked like they were going to be sick. I remember being mesmerized by the captivating images on the screen. My heart started pounding. It was as if I was watching a dream, all very surreal. Such a sad and somber time for our nation and for all of those whose lives were lost. The rest of the day was very quiet and long and unsettling. I'll never forget that day or the days immediately following. It took a long time for everything to return to some sense of normalcy. It's been twenty-five years but I can still remember like it was yesterday.
The only things that rivals that memory is September 11th and on a more personal note, the day JFK, Jr. went missing and then pronounced dead hours later.
I'll never forget.
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6 comments:
Events like that become burned into our memories. I remember the assassinations of the 60's...JFK, MLK, RFK...and exactly where I was and what I was doing when I got the news of each tragedy. On the day of the Challenger explosion I was here in Florida halfway across the narrow peninsula from the launch pad. Everybody in my office rushed outside and watched the craft as it rose in the sky practically right above us. It was surreal to see the explosion and breakup. Everybody fell silent, not knowing what to think or how to react. I'll never forget that awful day!
It is strange watching things like that on television. It's hard not to put yourself in their situation and get the sick feeling from knowing how helpless they must feel.
The second elementary school was Christa McAuliffe Elementary, as she was a teacher.
I heard that story all the time and it always made me sad.
Not to mention how bad that whole experience I had at that school, it was awful to be so hopeful to be the first civilians in space, but die before you even leave the atmosphere.
It goes to show that life is really short.
http://theadorkableditzmissteps.blogspot.com
I was a wee one when this happened, but vividly remember watching it on our T.V. and asking my parents a lot of questions. I remember getting very sad at the thought of the teacher being part of the team and losing her life and thinking what if that was MY teacher...there were some tears involved. This was about the time I started contemplating and having deep thoughts about death and life and what it all meant in the bigger scheme of things. Crazy how I remember that even though I was so young at the time.
-UD
I was working as a babysitter that day. I will never forget it either. At the World's Fair I laid roses at the memorial to the astronauts. It was so sad. President Reagan's speech was wonderful at the time.
All - thank you for sharing your memories as well! Indeed, a very sad day.
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