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The last time I saw Columbia was the Monday before 2/1/03. I was late for a Literary Magazine meeting, and there was no way I was going to be on time. It takes about 30 minutes to get from our end of town to that end of town, which I think is ridiculously slow, considering that in that time, a space shuttle can traverse 1/3 of the Earth. Anyways, our neighbors were outside, and being as late as it was, we knew they were out there for something space-related. I didn't really feel like stopping because I was already late, but when my mom and I called over to them to ask what they were going to see, they said the space shuttle. Something compelled us to stay, and we watched Columbia float across the sky for about 10 minutes. For some reason, I wasn't panicked; I wasn't trying to get into the car and go. I was just watching it, and everything was good. Until of course, that Saturday morning, when those same neighbors called to give us the news.
The astronauts on that crew truly were amazing people. I am so grateful to have been able to see them on their last flight, if only from afar, but I regret not getting to know about them beforehand.
After the fact, I found that Kalpana Chawla was a most amazing woman, and that Laurel Clark thought of the constellation Orion as a friend, much like I do. I learned about Rich Husband's deep-rooted faith, and Ilan Ramon's step into the history books-I regreted not knowing prior that he was the first Israeli astronaut, and that he had been up there that Monday evening...Brown, Anderson, and McCool's stories surfaced as well, and my awe for astronauts and the inspiration that I find in them overcame me completely.
I hope that when we send people into space again, it does not become routine. To leave the boundaries of this Earth and experience what cliche would call "the final frontier" is anything but routine, and the astronauts that live each day for it-even while on Earth, anticipating it, deserve and command respect.
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