I lost my childhood hero today. I am sure I am one of few teenage girls who plastered her walls with posters of astronauts and star ship captains. I’ve been a science nerd and space geek for as long as I can remember. Prized gifts included commemorative plates of early space missions, Hallmark light-up talking ornaments of the Eagle and Neil Armstrong, and a t-shirt celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first moon landing.
I’ve been captivated by the moon and the stories of the men who went there even though I was born eight years too late for the first lunar landing and five years too late for the last lunar landing. I think it’s easy to be awed by the moon. My husband is even named after Neil Armstrong – a fact that convinced me he was the one even before we’d gone on our first date.
I cannot believe I am still part of a generation that has never seen a human visit the moon in our lifetime. This year will mark 40 years since the last time we landed on the moon. How can it be so long ago? With the loss of Neil Armstrong today, I cannot help but feel that moon seems a little further out of reach. And how can it be that a woman has never been there?
[pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”30%”]”Let’s not just wink at the moon. Let’s go back.”[/pullquote]
On Monday, I will share the legacy of one the world’s best known yet quietest heroes with my students. I’ll tell them about the family’s wish for us to see the moon, wink at it, and think of Neil. But most of all, I’ll make sure they understand the importance of going back to the moon one day soon. We still have so much to learn about hour nearest neighbor. As my Team Kennedy colleague,Kaci Heins, mentioned today, “Let’s not just wink at the moon. Let’s go back.” And as we do, let’s not forget the legacy of Neil Armstrong who took those first tentative steps on the moon while the world watched, and somehow made us all feel a part of this amazing story and keeps us dreaming of another landscape. Godspeed Neil Armstrong. Godspeed.
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