Another Day to Remember

January 28, 1986
I was standing in front of my 5th grade class at Sandy Hook School.

One of the office clerks showed up at my classroom door and beckoned me over.

When I got there, she took me out in the hall and told me the awful news.

Word spread quickly among the faculty but we didn't say anything to the kids. And since this was way before the day of the cell phone and texting, they weren't going to find out until they got home.

I couldn't wait to get home myself. I went right to the TV, turned it on and followed the developments.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In the end the great physicist Richard Feynman explained how the 'O' rings had failed thus leaking highly combustible fuel.

So January 28 becomes one of those days when you will always remember where you were and what you were doing.

Aside from personal milestones, the other days I remember were when John Kennedy was assassinated, the 2nd space shuttle disaster (I confess I did not remember the date of the 2nd space shuttle disaster until I looked it up-February 1, 2003. I do remember where I was and then watching TV broadcasts of the aircraft as it broke apart and made its way to earth).

The third was of course the 9/11 terrorist attack which I wrote about before.

Unfortunately, these kinds of events always seem to be tragedies. On the other hand, there are plenty of good things to remember throughout the course of ones life--be they private or public.

Let's hope we have more of those kind.