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Childhood Idol
Aug. 25th, 2012 10:05 pmSomewhere between Captain Kangaroo and the Partridge Family, I had another idol, one with a boyish smile (even though he was 29 years older than I!) and one who was the first to accomplish something incredible.
I was sky-high with excitement one summer week -- I even took a day off from "work" -- I don't think my feet touched the ground all week. I remember sitting in the half-remodeled living room and watching the blurry B&W images on our color TV. Heck, I still have the wooden rocking chair I sat in that night (it was a housewarming gift to my parents before I was born).
I wanted to meet Neil Armstrong. Well, any astronaut, really, but especially Neil Armstrong. As a painfully shy kid, I had no idea what I would actually say to him, but I just wanted to be in the same room as the man who had accomplished the most stunning feat in history, never mind my short existence.
Since that time, I've moved a long way away from Robert Goddard's home county, I've attended lectures by various U.S. astronauts and one cosmonaut (who looked eerily like John Glenn), and I got to see a live space shuttle launch in 1985. I own books signed by Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell, and a few months ago I got to ask John Glenn a question following his talk on naval aviation at the Air & Space Museum.
But now I know I'll never get to meet Neil Armstrong.
One of my college (and, now, Facebook) friends expressed things much better than I could. Rest in peace, quiet hero.
I was sky-high with excitement one summer week -- I even took a day off from "work" -- I don't think my feet touched the ground all week. I remember sitting in the half-remodeled living room and watching the blurry B&W images on our color TV. Heck, I still have the wooden rocking chair I sat in that night (it was a housewarming gift to my parents before I was born).
I wanted to meet Neil Armstrong. Well, any astronaut, really, but especially Neil Armstrong. As a painfully shy kid, I had no idea what I would actually say to him, but I just wanted to be in the same room as the man who had accomplished the most stunning feat in history, never mind my short existence.
Since that time, I've moved a long way away from Robert Goddard's home county, I've attended lectures by various U.S. astronauts and one cosmonaut (who looked eerily like John Glenn), and I got to see a live space shuttle launch in 1985. I own books signed by Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell, and a few months ago I got to ask John Glenn a question following his talk on naval aviation at the Air & Space Museum.
But now I know I'll never get to meet Neil Armstrong.
One of my college (and, now, Facebook) friends expressed things much better than I could. Rest in peace, quiet hero.
