Men on the Moon

"When I dream, I am ageless" – children's book author Elizabeth Coatsworth

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  My earliest memory is watching some part of these proceedings back in July of 1969.  I am in my kitchen, almost 3 years old, glued to a small B&W television.  Transfixed – even at that age, I dreamed of going to space, to the moon!  As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be an astronaut.  I read all the science fiction I could, I visited Cape Canaveral, I collected the very patches the astronauts wore on their uniforms from Mercury through Gemini to Apollo and beyond.  To fly up into space and look back on the Earth!  I spent countless hours imagining my journeys to other worlds. As I got older, I sadly realized that my tendency towards severe motion sickness would preclude space travel as a career for me.

Things turned out for the best for me.  Yet I remain, to this day, fascinated by the idea of space travel.  The artwork featured above is a fanciful poster of men on the moon – very 60's sci-fi – surrounded by the astronaut patches I carefully collected.  The cool thing is that the kids in my office, as they pass by the picture, stop and stare.  The photo primarily catches their attention, then they are drawn to the patches.  They ask me, or they ask their parent, "What are these?"  It never ceases to amaze me how many hold the same dream I did (do?).  My work life is full of these amazing moments – that's a fantastic part of working with kids all day.  I am so happy to witness the dreaming.  And one day, perhaps, one of these children will find their way up, up, and away, to space – to join the men on the moon.