Several months ago I wrote these words in another blog post……… “I am generally not one to put a lot of value to celebrity and generally do not find my heroes in pop culture. But today as I heard of the death of Neil Armstrong; the first man on the moon, I suddenly felt profoundly sad. But why? Certainly he had been a pilot; something always close to my heart and several years ago my Dad had shared a table with him at an aviation event. But that was not the connection I was feeling. It was much more than that. It was the knowledge that I am now a full generation away from the little girl that sat riveted in front of that TV set on July 20th, 1969 when Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon. I had spent weeks waiting for the event. I had scrapbooks full of every article or newspaper clipping I could find. My family did not leave the room on that Monday afternoon as we waited for the landing of the module on the surface of the moon, and stayed later still as we waited the 6 hours until Neil Armstrong placed his boot on the dusty lunar surface and proclaimed “That is one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.” These men were my heroes. My father kept saying that this would be remembered as an amazing moment in our lives. It was a different world. We were in an era that still had ‘awe’. We could not computer generate a trip to another planet with a resolution that looked like we were really there. But what we did have was a grainy black and white picture that told us that as a society we had gone somewhere we had previously only imagined in our dreams. My father was right. I do remember July 20th, 1969 as an amazing moment in my life; partly because of it being a great moment in history but more so because I can still sense the incredible feeling of having shared that moment with my family. So the profound sadness I feel is not about the loss of a man I do not know. It is the sadness that yet another special moment in my life is now such a distant memory.”
Well today I need to stand corrected on a point I made in this blog. I said that at the time of the first moon landing we were in an era that still had ‘awe’ alluding to the fact that we were no longer inspired by the amazing world around us. Well we do have ‘awe’!! It was gone for a number of years but we have it again. And this time the courier of this awe is a man that I know set in front of a TV on that same day in 1969 that I did and he became an astronaut. That man is Cmdr Chris Hadfield who is currently on the International Space Station and is about to take over as commander of the ISS. Hadfield has managed to once again instil in our society a sense of ‘awe’. Through social media he has managed to captivate a worldwide audience of people anticipating his next tweet or Facebook message. He has impressed us with his musical talents and genuine connection to our youth. He is passionate about education, about our world and truly seems to see that ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ He has taken his role as an astronaut as a platform to connect with our youth and to remind us through his amazing photo gallery of the amazing world we live in. This man doesn’t need a press agent or a manager. He is a STAR! Thank you Chris Hadfield for bringing back the ‘awe’ factor. You have inspired a generation!
Nancy's Notes 