(in honor of all the recent space activity and a soon to arrive full moon – a repost from 2 years ago)
50th anniversary of the week of the Apollo 11 moon landing
I was 11
on the cusp of everything
we went over
to my parents’ friends’ house
everyone was transfixed
air was electric
all gathered around the tv
watching
silent and awestruck
gobsmacked
as the first man walked on the moon
spoke his first words on the moon
lots of emotion in the house
I ran to the window to look at the moon
hoping I would see him up there
right in the middle of all of this
the hostess
left to go to the hospital
to have her baby
she named him neil
after that man on the moon.
—
“we ran as if to meet the moon.”
― robert frost
—
image credit: Ann Arbor district library archives
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I didn't have my glasses on.... 
I remember that day as well. Watching on television it felt like anything was now possible. Just goes to show what can happen when we are dedicated to something important. Great post, Beth!
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Absolutely right and thank you
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It was so exciting. And now there are commercial trips into space. That’s exciting too. Only for the rich and famous, yes, but being an astronaut was a pretty exclusive club too.
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indeed it is, for now. it’s hard to imagine how it will be –
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what a wonderful story Beth: beautifully told; I was in my first years of teaching then and we sent the kids home to watch it with their parents while we watched it in the staffroom with those kids whose parents were still at work; a wonderful. miraculous time :)
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it absolutely was
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Space exists for dreamers and fiction writers, that’s the best of space…
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it does –
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My “Itmims” has been to the moon and back quite a number of times ..
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<3
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What an exciting day.
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I either remember it very well, or the telling of it. very well. I’m not sure which. :)
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This is something I have such a clear memory of, but you are younger than me )
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This is true :)
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It is interesting to live through another wave of space exploration, Beth, and by private citizens and not NASA. Our life has spanned so much.
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You are so right, mark –
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what a great memory. these billionaire space launches just don’t have the same excitement or create the sense of unity that we had back then…
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Not the same feel at all
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I’m almost as impressed by the fact that your hostess was having a party as she went into labor as I am by a man walking on the moon! Great story!
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So true, apparently the show must go on!)
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What an amazing memory! And to host a party 9 months pregnant. Wow. Different times for sure.
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My goodness, that was a special day. I was 19, so my perspective was a little different, but oh yeah, I will never forget it.
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i think most of us, regardless of our age at the time, remember that as a special day
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Getting to the moon was symbolic that humans can accomplish just about anything, (except maybe prevent a pandemic from spreading.) I can’t believe how many conspiracy theorists think the moon landing never happened.
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yes, they are still out there –
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Unforgettable experience, and what a day to be born !
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Amazing for both reasons
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how lovely. reminds me of being a child, and an adult, and learning new things about the world – shifts in awareness and consciousness…
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Seismic shifts
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indeed.
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I love this! I can still remember the moment like it was yesterday. Yes, it was electrifying.
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Absolutely
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🙂
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that was some experience watching the moon landing! :-)
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I will never forget it
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