Being a college student, I was out until about 2 AM. Waking up at 10:45 (ugh) for a meeting, I rolled out of bed and went online. I generally check CNN.com once a day, but, oddly enough, I decided to check my e-mail first. Deleting all my spam, I headed over to a blog I read frequently. There I saw a joke about NASA, which struck me as a bit odd. But, then again, the guy who runs that site is what people in the medical profession refer to as a sick fuck, so I didn't think much of it. I was getting ready to take a shower when I finally switched on the TV. My roommate, who went home for the weekend, has a serious addiction to Spanish soap operas. It was there I saw the images of some sort of explosion for the first time. Not knowing Spanish, I quickly flipped over to CBS, and the calming presence of Dan Rather.
There, I saw the words Space Shuttle Crash on screen, and, remembering the Isreali astronaut, my immediate knee-jerk reaction was, "Oh my God, please don't let this be a terror attack". I sat for ten minutes, watching these horrible images of fire in the sky. I realized then I was running late, and hastily showered and got dressed for my appointment, and left.
I got back from the meeting at about 1:15. I sat down and watched the repeated showing of the photographs of the astronauts. I put faces to them, learned more about them as people. I realized they had families. There are children who won't have their Mom or Dadwhen they graduate and get married. I George W. Bush speak to the nation, his voice quivering has he asked God to continue to bless America.
Today is the sixth anniversary of the death of my Mom. I spent last night helping my drunk friends back to the dorm as they were having trouble walking. One of my best friends got picked up by the cops and taken to the hospital last night. I was not in a good mood when I woke up today. And then this. At about 3:30, I turned of the TV, put on some Badly Drawn Boy, sobbed, and drifted off to sleep.
/me misses Columbia