My Wish Came True

My dad grew up in the space generation. When he was 9 years old, he witnessed the first man walking on the moon. Growing up, I remember him getting so excited for every space shuttle's launch. He would get us kids so excited to watch them launch and I cannot remember missing one since then. Living in Central Florida, so close to the coast, it is amazing at how you can watch them go up and get to be apart of the live excitement. I think it is due to my dad's enthusiasm, but I have always had a soft spot for the space program. My favorite part of all the shuttle launches were the sonic booms that can be heard as the space ship is welcomed home. As a little kid, those booms would wake me up and I would smile. It was home safe. When I was younger, I remember sometimes praying for the safe return of the shuttle and its astronauts; some other times, I would pray to hear the sonic booms.

This last and final shuttle launch of the Atlantis was kind of emotional for me. I don't really know why; after all, I am not apart of the space generation. I was at school when it was going to be launched. I knew what time I needed to go outside. Right as I was leaving the library on campus, I checked my email and on my yahoo homepage it said something about the shuttle being delayed. I should have kept reading because it was only delayed by less than a minute. I, however, thought I had plenty of time. As I drove to Ben's work, I kept checking my review mirror so I could see it. Apparently I missed it, but Ben's co-worker informed me that it was impossible to see anyway because of the cloud cover. I was a bit devastated. This was the first one I missed and it was the last one. Last night, as I said my prayers, I included the astronauts and then said a special prayer asking for the blessing of hearing those amazing sonic booms.

At 5:50 something this morning, I woke up with a smile on my face to those fateful booms. It is a great feeling. This morning, as soon as I got to work, I watched its landing. I hope you watch it too, as this is an amazing moment in American history. The words shared between Commander Chris Ferguson and NASA control are inspiring and completely patriotic.

God Bless America!