546When I was ten years old, my world fell apart in 73 seconds. It was the first time I witnessed the death of another human being, and the raw pain of that day still has not left me.The year was 1986, and I was in third grade. My family had just moved to New Hampshire two months earlier, and I was amazed to see another New Hampshire resident, Christa McAuliffe, all over the evening news, in addition to Channel 9, the local news station. It was the dream of a little boy to reach for the stars, to go to space and look down upon the earth. I dreamed about it. I watched the shuttle launches. My grandfather lived in Florida, and would often tell me about being able to the see the shuttle soaring over his house.Because McAuliffe was a teacher from New Hampshire, my elementary school was very much involved in the entire process, and the students did projects and wrote letters to our New Hampshire astronaut. On the day of the launch, we all sat in front of a television in class to watch the teacher bring space right to our very classroom. I was so excited, and remember staring at the television, completely transfixed with anticipation. When the engines lit, my heart raced and we all cheered. When the shuttle cleared the launchpad, we all clapped. What happened next hushed the room like a forest covered in thick snow. Nobody spoke. I heard one of the teachers gasp. My heart sank. Someone turned off the television, and we resumed our normal class schedule. I could not focus, though, as all I could think of were white smoke trails across a blue sky.

I sobbed for three days straight. My dream to visit space someday was shattered, and I was acutely aware of the deaths of those astronauts, and that hurt the most. President Reagan's now famous speech made me weep as if my own family had been lost. And to this day, 20 years later, hearing that speech and watching video of Challenger's demise still brings me to tears.

"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."

[tags]Challenger, Christa+McAuliffe, NASA, New+Hampshire, Reagan, Space+Shuttle[/tags]