Challenger Witness  − 28 January, 1986

Like many American schoolchildren of the '80s, I was a witness to the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. As a second grader, I remember being ushered into the third grade classrooms with my classmates to watch the launch of "the teacher in space". Although later I had an interest and fascination with the space shuttle, that had not occurred yet for me.

Since I was so young, I did not immediately comprehend what had happened, but I do remember the third graders crying. I also remember that Moore Elementary dismissed early that day. I have a memory of talking to my mom at home about it, but I'm not sure if that was the situation, or if that was slightly later on that year, when my mom and I returned home after she divorced him.