Thirteen years old and it was just dark in Roxbury, a small summer community on Rockaway Point just inland of the Breezy Point of Sandy infamy. Up in the loft of a frame and post bungalow, the still hot air untroubled by the open windows at either end, the smell of sunbaked dry wood laying over it. Small black and white thirteen inch TV, with a smaller figure in a bulky white suit clumsily easing itself down a skinny ladder. The figure half stepped, half jumped from the last rung to the dusty ground...
"That's one small step for man..." And in through the windows, scattered at first but growing, you could hear the cheers and applause from the other families in the other bungalows up and down the street....
1 comment:
Deborah .... The intensity of emotions of nearly the entire population of the nearby small blue planet from which the explorer had ventured, caused their collective breathlessness; a feat unduplicated in the years since. The awe, wonder, and pride was borderless. The selflessness of the host nation is demonstrated in the words, "This is one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind". The feat inspired people regardless of gender, age, race, or socio-economic status.
We, who had the privilege of witnessing this historic event, count ourselves lucky. Surely, in the future, there will be space related "firsts", but none will compare with the first man to step on the moon.
Post a Comment