Grandpa, Space Ships and Me

42 years ago today, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong Armstrong said "I'm going to step off the LEM now" He turned and set his left boot on the surface of the moon.  Then spoke the famous words…..

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

 From that day on, space ships played a part of many of my childhood dreams. They were fascinating and the people who rode upon them were my heroes.

My love for space ships came honestly. I learned about them from my Grandpa who admired them so. Looking back, I’m sure that they were an amazing thing for the simple man from Kentucky. His life’s travels totaled four states and about a thousand miles. The idea of going to the moon was unimaginable.

On December 7, 1972, My childhood changed a bit. I remember my Grandpa calling me into the living room to watch TV. Walter Cronkite was talking about the Apollo launch that was happening that afternoon. We sat and watched every minute of the coverage from the staging to the launch.  I’m not sure who was more excited about the launch, him or me, but I know that I remember it in detail. I remember the countdown, the launch and the excitement in Grandpa’s voice as he screamed “Jimmy, would you look at that.” I’ll never forget the moment or the man.

As an adult, the Space program and its various launches have always brought back memories of those childhood dreams and my Grandpa. Unfortunately, tomorrow those regular reminders will go away when the last Space Shuttle lands on terra firma. But today, I choose to remember the man who showed me how to "keep my feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars."

Grandpa was a hulking man. His tastes were simple and came from being a child of the Depression. Always soft spoken and kind, I do not remember him ever raising his voice to anyone. He spent his days as a Tool and Die Maker at the local appliance factory and his evenings in his recliner chair watching the news and Lawrence Welk. As near as I can tell, there were only a few things in life that ever got his true attention; The Cincinnati Red Legs, Walter Cronkite, space launches and me.

I remember him coming home from work and quickly finding his recliner and me quickly finding his lap. When you’re a small boy, the lap of a man this large was a place in which you could disappear. I remember to this day his musty smell from a day at the factory and I always thought that he smelled like soup. I would watch in fascination as he would roll his own cigarettes and lick them sealed. Sometimes I would pick up his Zippo lighter, the one with the Rebel Soldier and the phrase “Rebel Yell”, and light the cigarette for him…..always to my Grandma’s chagrin.

We would play banjo on the porch, Listen to the Reds, mow the yard and chop wood. Chopping wood was high on my Grandma’s watch list, because she was certain that my five year old fingers were in jeopardy. She would stomp and scream, lose control and yell that she would rather see a “Coal black rattlesnake in my hands” than the small hatchet that I used to massacre the tree stumps in the basement. I always thought that was funny. I mean everyone knows that you can’t chop wood with a rattlesnake.

As a child who’s Dad had died, I loved the man time with Grandpa. All the games, mowing and chopping were great, but my favorite times were when we would “run away”. Our version of running away was a walk to the local Village Pantry convenience store. We’d walk the five blocks talking nonstop about the Big Red Machine, buy some RC Cola’s and sit outside the store on a picnic table in the sun. He would talk to me about life and tell me that I "could do anything". Before we left, Grandpa would always insist that we “forgot” something and needed to go back in the store. It turns out that we always forgot baseball cards or green soldier men for me. We would walk home to a seemingly angry Grandma, who was mad because we’d been “gone all day.” Little did I know that this was all an act conjured up by my Grandpa to assure that we’d have to make it up to her by taking her into town for a piece of Kunkle’s pie.

That was the man that he was. He spoke of me going to college and chasing my dreams. He told me that there was a "big world out there, don't miss it"....implying that maybe he had. He wanted me to know that there was something more for me out there and when he said that I "could do anything", he meant it.

So, needless to say, a week ago, I was saddened to see the last NASA Space Shuttle take flight and I’m even sadder that tomorrow will be that last landing thereby ending the program. It will be one less reminder of the man and the role that he played in my life.

I fear that future generations won’t have these moments. Our sophisticated ways make it difficult to recognize the simple pleasures of life or the amazing ones. Xbox 360’s have replaced green army men, instant messaging has replaced long walks and now there is no more space program to fascinate young minds. Progress in many ways fuels the world, but are we “gaining the world, but losing our souls”?

This world needs more people that are willing to invest the time to be good teachers, coaches and role models. I pray that there are more guides and mentors that will take the time to teach kids about using their imagination, chasing dreams and the pleasure that comes from simple things. I hope that every kid finds people to teach them......like my Grandpa did for me.

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder ...

 he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it,

rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”
- Rachel Carson