Forever Etched
Some pictures stick with you, forever emblazoned in your subconsious.
The fragments of space shuttle
Columbia falling from the sky
on Saturday morning formed one such picture. The helmet to the right
is a stark reminder of the loss of life it included.
By odd coicidence, the wife and I watched Columbia rise
from the sky two weeks ago. I was quite excited.
I hadn’t witnessed a live lauch of the shuttle since I was young.
We just happened to turn on the TV. I waited 20 minutes
for the countdown. Incredible science wrapped
in a fiery display of power. For a couple of minutes, I was
that kid again. The anticipation was real. Danger does not
have to be explained to a child of my generation. We remember
Challenger. We remember the last time it happened.
I was in middle school. Class was stopped. A TV was rolled into
the room and we were shown a story with not such a happy ending.
As a kid, I don’t know if I truly understood the events.
Something was wrong but it’s meaning was tough to explain.
As an adult, I don’t know if I can do much better. The event
itself is tragic. But the world is full of tragedy. One of
my biggest memories of Saturday was that my first thought, and
the thoughts of many others, lead to questions of terrorism.
It didn’t help that I learned of the event via a telephone call:
“Did you hear the news?”
The difference in this case is that tragedy befell an American
icon. The shuttle bears our stars and stripes. The
passengers
inside were heroes. They had the job that every little boy’s
heart desires. This felt a bit personal.
My son visited church for the first time this morning. The pastor
mentioned he was glad we picked this day. The joy of a new life
could temper the loss still fresh in the minds of the
congregation. I hope it helped. The shining faces around me
made me believe it did.
Now we hear concerns about launching another. These concerns sound
silly. It is
dangerous. That’s no surprise to the brave souls that don the
orange spacesuits quite regularly. Not everyone returns. But that
won’t stop us; it can’t stop us. Whatever pause is necessary between
this one and the next should be short. Those that put
their life at risk for the advancement of science should not have
to wait in the stars for long before we send them some company.
