I was in high school. Leaving history class, I heard someone say the shuttle, which had taken off that morning, had blown up. I had always regarded him as a clown, so I didn't believe him.
We could see the vapor trail from where we were - this was Tampa, just across the state from the Kennedy Center - and it didn't appear as obvious as it did later than day. The trail just tapered out, as I imagined it would on an ordinary launch.
I got to my next class - Latin - and the teacher made a brief mention that something had happened to the shuttle, he didn't know what, but that we should keep the astronauts and their families in our prayers. (I went to a Catholic high school). That's when the reality hit me - it was true.
After that class, many of us just skipped the rest of the day and watched CNN in the school library, on a TV the librarians had rolled out on one of those ubiquitous AV carts all schools have. My calculus teacher was there, too, and I remember the look of concern on his face.
Later on, President Reagan gave a speech that still chills me to this day when I hear it: "We will never forget them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."
Posted by wasylik at February 1, 2003 11:17 AM | TrackBack