I was thinking back to that summer night when I was ten, and had anticipated all evening the walk on the moon after the successful landing of the lunar module, Eagle.
I could not keep my eyes open for the whole moon walk; I fell asleep on the living room floor after about an hour. I was miffed that my mom didn’t wake me up. But her motto was that if your body’s telling you it needs sleep, then you should sleep. Besides, there will be other moonwalks. Not enough, in my opinion.
I didn’t react to the word of Neil Armstrong’s death as much as others. In another decade or two, no human will be left alive who walked on the surface of the nearest heavenly body. We all grow old. We all die. But young people can still dream, either in wakeful anticipation, or on a living room floor on far-off Planet Earth. From the Armstrong family statement:
For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the Moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.
