20 Years.

It's been 20 years since Challenger exploded after liftoff. I remember I was in 6th grade at Lincoln Terrace here in Roanoke. Myself and 5 other nerds (sorry guys) were having "special music" class aka. Violin lessons in the library and Mr Dow, the principal came running in and announced that the shuttle had exploded. The only TV was kept in the library and we were able to watch the rest unfold for the remainder of music class.

It's funny how we as humans link tragedies with either what is going on with our lives or what we're doing at that exact moment we hear about it. When the Oklahoma City bombing happened I was unloading the dishwasher at Mom & Dad's house and just stood there in shock. 9/11 I was actually asleep and Mom woke me up. We were having new windows put in the house that morning and just invited the window man to come in and watch the TV. I got on the phone a made a couple calls to friends. One of my best friends had a sister living and working in DC at the time. It took him a while to get in contact with her, but she was alright.

You always hear from the previous generation about what they were doing or where they were when Kennedy was shot, man walked on the moon, Nixon resigned, Elvis died ( I was only 2). These are the things that help form our pasts. Just as good memories can take us back to Christmases when we were young and give us a sense of immortality, disasters can, and do remind us of our simple existence here on this earth.