Of the Moon, and Memories

The historic lunar landing was just another step in space exploration to any kid with an imagination. How could we get into deep space if we couldn't even land on the moon? I remember feeling, besides a sort of magic sense of pride that we were about to actually land on the moon, that it was high time we finally did!

That soon to be historic day had been hot and muggy. I remember spending most of the day on hold, waiting for the big event. My little sister and I had been just doing summer kid stuff and watching silly game shows and old movies on TV. But we knew the big attraction would be later in the day, and we sensed it would be spectacular.

Our Mom seemed always to be busy doing housework and fixing meals. Our Dad was on a fishing trip. Nothing really different about that, except that was the afternoon our TV decided to give up the ghost. It just died with no warning. One minute we were watching something to pass the time and the next minute the screen went blank. There was an eerie electronic drone coming out of its bowels, but in a moment that fuzzed out to silence. That TV was dead.

Mom flew into action. "Unplug it right away!!!" she barked at me. I scrambled to do as I was told. To my sister she ordered, "Get my purse!" We knew what that meant -- we were going out!

I've never seen anyone turn off an almost cooked meal on the stove, close windows and lock up doors, and herd two little girls into the old Chevy faster than Mom did that day. I wasn't sure where we were headed, but I knew it was to buy a new TV. No deliberations, no price comparisons, no haggling or trying to get a deal. We were going to buy a new TV. It was as if our lives depended on it!

We only had to drive about three or four miles to a discount-department store that had a great selection of TVs. The short drive was a very odd experience -- no one was on the streets. I don't think we saw more than two cars on the whole trip. The store parking lot was empty. "Are they open?" we asked. Mom pulled us out of the car and we ran into the store.

The interior very quiet, except for the TV department, where all the TVs were tuned to the moon and mission control broadcasts, now just getting started for the night. My sister and I went through the shopping and buying process with wide eyes and a sense of excitement we could taste.

I'd never seen Mom spend so much money without batting an eye. Money changed hands, a nice teenager from the store loaded the big box and new TV stand into the car and we were once again speeding through the streets toward home.

When we drove home from the store, we stared at the moon as we raced along. It was gorgeous and all we could think about was our men were there! Once we got home and unboxed the TV and put it on the stand and plugged it in, everything was smooth sailing. The three of us were transfixed and time slipped away that night to thoughts of a future of space travel and exploration and new horizons on distant planets and gosh, maybe all that stuff in the science fiction movies really could happen? I remember we were glued to that new TV set as long as we could hold out and as long as there was news of our brave Apollo astronauts. It was a "moon" high that lasted for days.

But that first night when I went to bed, and fell into the sweet sleep of a child, I dreamed of the wonderful new worlds that waited for us "out there." We'd shaken off our Earthly shackles and landed on the moon! Life was full of opportunities! And all the good things in life -- I knew then that, yes, it would take determination and hard work, but if you have dreams, you can do it, and anything is possible!