Challenger

I was in 9th grade. In between periods I had to go to my locker to switch out my books. A friend was standing in front of a nearby locker and he asked if I'd heard. About what, I asked. The Space Shuttle blew up. No it didn't, I replied. Yes it did, he stood firm. No it didn't, I replied again.

This was NASA. This was the smartest people in the world. These were the same people who put humans on the moon for christ's sake. Space shuttles don't blow up, that's absurd.

It's hard to imagine that it was 25 years ago today. Partly because it's hard to imagine that I'm old enough to remember something that happened 25 years ago, but that's my own personal hang up. Mostly its because I can still remember it so vividly. It's really like it happened yesterday.