A day that I will never forget...

January 28, 1986

I remember sitting with my 1st grade class in Ms. Berry's room at Blossomwood Elementary, so excited that a teacher, just like mine, was going into space. Having the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville made this seem more real...I had seen spaceships just like the one they were flying. I knew this was an exciting day, not just because we were going to watch TV in class, but because parents were there too and we had talked about it in class - how a real life teacher was an astronaut and how we were really going to be watching them lift off.

I remember seeing them lift off and then, the accident. As a 1st grader, I didn't understand what happened but I knew it was bad. I remember the teacher and parents kind of being frozen and then the TV being turned off. I remember later hearing from the teachers and principal that something had gone wrong and that the astronauts had died and that included the teacher. I remember feeling sad for her students and not understanding what would happen now.

But, I remember life going on somehow. I remember school going on. I remember still visiting the Space and Rocket Center. I remember people still talking about being astronauts and going into space.

What I don't remember - maybe because I didn't understand "big people talk" or maybe because I didn't get to watch because it was past my 1st grade bedtime - is the eloquency with which our President spoke that day, his appreciation to the ones that had lost their lives and to their families, the hope that the space program would continue, the encouragement to school children across America to continue their dreams, the knowledge that sometimes exploration ends in failure but that we have to keep their dream alive and press on.

I'm sure, like me, you too remember this day. Maybe you were one of those school children across America watching just like me. Or maybe you were at work huddled around a TV. Or you were at home watching while your small children were sleeping. Maybe you too remember the tragic event but forgot the words that were spoken afterwards. Listen and remember...