Where were you when Challenger exploded?

[Sillygirl]

This question might illuminate the age ranges on the board - it occurs to me that some of you younguns might not actually remember this, strange as that strikes me. I always tend to assume everyone here is my age.

Anyway, I was in eighth grade. I walked into art class and Caroline L. told me the space shuttle had blown up. We watched the TV our teacher wheeled in for us.

[purpleeyes]

I was in forth grade. We also watched it-I think maybe even as it happened. Everyone was so excited in the schools because of Christa McAuliffe. I just remember being so sure that they would find the survivors in the water.
As a 10 year old, I just had no idea.

Beth

[hez]

5th grade, Miss McConnagaugh's room (however you spell her name-- it's been TOO long).

We came back in from recess or something, and a girl I didn't like told me it had just blown up and I refused to believe her. And then I watched it on TV.

Side note-- I VIVIDLY remember the discussion I had with my dad (an engineer) afterwards on what an O-ring is. He likened it to a napkin in your lap-- it's not always necessary, but will keep the food from escaping further and making a mess...

[juliasmom05]

Boy, does this make me feel old. I would probably call you a youngun ;-). I have to admit I was a sophmore in college. We were all crowded around in a little tv in a friend's dorm room watching in disbelief.

Marci

Mom to Julia 4/05

[Emmas Mom]

My 10th grade Physical Science class...Doc McCall. I have a very vivid memory of our biology teacher coming in the classroom from hers (next door) & telling Doc to turn on the TV. She was visibly shaken. I remember many people crying, it was very sad.

[heidiann]

I was in 11th grade chemistry class taking a test, I remember the teaching telling us to pass our tests in which freaked me out b/c I was nowhere near finished, but then she started telling us what was going on and eventually someone pushed a tv into our room so that we could see what was going on.

Heidi
Mom to Jillian 10/20/05

[JElaineB]

I was in 11th grade in the hallway between classes (I was running late to English). A friend stopped me and told me the Challenger had just exploded. I was stunned, and worried, because a classmate and friend was supposed to be at the launch, because she was related to Christa McAuliffe. When I got to English class the teacher was already telling the rest of the class. I'm pretty sure that's what we talked about in class that day. We later found our our classmate and her family had left the day before to drive back because of all the delays they. They ended up not seeing the launch.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[mariza]

Seventh Grade we had the TV already setup to watch the launch. I don't think I realized what happened at first. Gosh, I do feel old!

[ellies mom]

I was in 11th grade. I was at the doctor's waiting to get a cast on my foot.

[jeminaal]

>Boy, does this make me feel old. I would probably call you a
>youngun ;-). I have to admit I was a sophmore in college. We
>were all crowded around in a little tv in a friend's dorm room
>watching in disbelief.
>
>Marci
>
>Mom to Julia 4/05

Has it been 20 years already? Man, I feel old, too. Like Marci, I was in college during that time. When I found out, I headed over to our university's activities center/bowling alley to watch the events unfold on our big screen TV. It was crowded with students who, like me, skipped their classes that day and couldn't believe what they were seeing. It was a very, very sad day.

Jeanette

DD, born Christmas Eve
DS, born Valentine's Day

[jbowman]

I was in science class in 9th grade. I remember that our teacher wheeled a tv in for us as well; everyone was so quiet and excited, and then the shuttle exploded. I also recall that a science teacher I had, had applied and even been a finalist, I think, for "teacher in space."

I live in East Texas now, and heard Columbia explode three years ago. Both of these events are such tragedies. :(

ETA: I wrote 7th, but was in 9th grade...my excuse: just had another baby a couple of weeks ago! I am so out of it!

[phirey]

Tenth grade. I can't remember what class it was but our room had the TV with wheels that day becasue of some other video we were watching. Instead of wheeling TVs into all the other rooms, they just quickly brought all the other nearby classes into our room. We were all terribly sad, and I don't want to make light of the situation, but that's how I met my HS boyfriend. He was one of the ones they brought in from another class... I liked him because he seemed to sensitive to the matter, rather than all the dorks who just saw it as a way to get out of that day's homework.

[billysmommy]

I was home sick from school (4th grade) and was watching it on tv. My mom was downstairs doing laundry and and I ran downstairs to tell her. She didn't believe me at first but I made her come upstairs and watch it with me. I remember it so clearly, even what clothes we both had on.

[thomma]

I was a freshman in college. I think I "had" to skip a class to watch the news with friends. Now I feel REALLY old!

Kim
t&e 5/03

[kijip]

I was in 1st grade. Yup, that is right. 1st grade. We were watching it on TV in class and the teacher was at a total loss to explain that all of the people on the Challenger were dead. Being 5 and 6 years old (it was a two grade class), we had no idea that this meant they were dead. But we knew something was very wrong.

[tarahsolazy]

8th grade science class. Never saw Mr. Bents move that fast, he ran in and turned on the TV.

[JTsMom]

This explains so much about this board! Here I figured I would be one the oldest, but I was wrong.

I was in 6th grade math class. I was really into the space program, and I was just crushed.

[babymama]

I was in 6th grade. My friend Brent gave me the news in the cafeteria. Our elementary school art teacher had applied to be the teacher that went into space, and we talked about how weird it was that it could have been her.

I remember seeing the pics on tv later when I got home and thinking how weird the explosion looked (those puffy upwards shaped clouds). It didn't look at all like an eplosion to me and made it even harder to comprehend what had happened.

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, my 2 yr old monster
and new baby girl, Solana, born 12/26/05
I'll figure out how to update my avatar someday!

[elliput]

I was a senior in high school and was on an NHS field trip at a local funeral home with about 15 other students. The lady from the office interrupted the tour while we were in the embalming room to tell us. We all then crowded around the TV at the funeral home to watch the news coverage before heading back to school. It was a surreal experience.

[sarahsthreads]

>I was in 6th grade math class. I was really into the space
>program, and I was just crushed.

I know what you mean. I was in 5th grade, and I was positive that I was going to be an astronaut when I grew up. I can't remember if we actually were watching the launch live or the news coverage after in school though. I was too devastated to remember the details that clearly.

Sarah

[nicoleandjackson]

In tenth grade... I don't have any recollection of watching it in school, but I do have a very vivid memory of watching the news incessantly when I got home from school and hoping against hope that one time when they replayed the footage the shuttle would just keep on going. The image of the shape of the explosion lingers in my mind...

My cousin was a finalist for the Teacher in Space program (she was 37 at the time, and a high school English teacher.) I thank my stars that she missed it by -> <- that much.

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02

Who's the Biggest Boy? It's Jackson!
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[writermama]

High school, can't remember which grade right now (I blame pregnancy brain).

I was home from school, sick, watching it on TV in the living room. I used to watch launches whenever I could, was a real fan of the space program. I remember just not believing it, even after seeing it over and over in replay.

As an aside, I was at Kennedy Space Center a few years ago and got to watch a shuttle land. It was such an incredible sight (it looks like an airplane, but it lands "like a brick" as the engineer next to me described it), that I started following the space program again and watched the next launch live. That turned out to be Columbia's last mission. :(

[mudder17]

My brain is actually a bit fuzzy, but I was a freshman in high school when it happened. I don't remember what class I was in, but I remember seeing it on the tv and just wondering how it could be real.


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
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Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[Rachels]

I was in eighth grade, too. I was in the library watching the liftoff live. I can't even quite describe my sense of horror. And then my crazy science teacher, in a move I will NEVER understand, yelled at us all to get back to work. Everyone was standing around speechless and frightened, and she was mad that we weren't focusing on our projects.

-Rachel
Mama to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
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Nursed for three years!

and Ethan James
10/19/05
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"When you know better, you do better."
Maya

[american_mama]

I was in 9th or 10th grade. Now that I am pushed to remember precisely, I am wondering if my memory is correct. I remember being in the halls of school during midterm exams and Beth G. told me. Lydia, I know what you mean about the clouds/smoke didn't look like a movie explosion and made it harder to get a grasp.

For many years, whenever older people would reference where they were when JFK was shot, I thought they were missing the marker of a younger generation, which is where were you when Reagan was shot. I remember that more clearly than the shuttle explosion, but I don't mean to hijack Katie's thread.

[g-mama]

I was in a 10th grade social studies class. The TV was in the room so we could watch the launch. I remember the shock and disbelief like it was yesterday.


~Kristen

Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
Marco 12-05

[buddyleebaby]

I had JUST turned three, so I guess I was in mursery school.

This thread is great for my ego. I may have saggy breast-feeding boobs, but they're YOUNG saggy breast-feeding boobs! ; )

[jamsmu]

6th grade computer class. The teacher brought his office clock radio in so we could hear the news.

[mmaimp]

It was actually a snow day in South Jersey and I slept in that day. I did not know until I turned the TV on in the early afternoon. I think I was in 10th grade.

[bcky2]

i was in either in 4th or 5th grade(as i had the same teacher for both). my teacher Mrs. Figgins weeled a tv in for us to watch it.

[mamato1]

I was in Mr. Schell's 7th grade science class. The entire class sat there in silence because Mr. Schell had been one of the finalists to go up in the Challenger. We had all been so disappointed that he was not the one to get to go. Then when we saw what happened we all sat there with the most bizarre feeling of relief that our beloved teacher (he was FANTASTIC) was there and safe and also filled with sadness at the loss of life. I will never ever forget it.

Chris

[CiderLogan]

I was in 5th grade. The class next door to us was watching it live, so they rushed us in there to watch too after it exploded.

It is so interesting to read the variation in ages/memories here, yet it's clear we were all very affected by it!

Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/03
...and another GIRL due 5/29/06!

[Marisa6826]

I was a junior in HS, sitting in health class when it came over the loud speaker that everybody had to go to the Auditorium for an assembly. They had the news on one of those TVs on the rolling cart. I had just had my knee operated on, and was in a huge imobiliser with crutches. It took me forever to walk to the other side of the school.

Funny how you remember things, huh? I remember standing in a tiny bakery in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania ordering rye bread when it came over the radio that Reagan had been shot.

I also remember the night the Iraqi war started. I was walking through Trump tower (which has a huge, magnificent indoor atrium filled with bamboo trees). I had just left from getting my haircut. A homeless veteran and I cross paths, and we talked about it. We both just prayed for peace, but knew it wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

-m

[lmintzer]

I was in 8th grade. I was taking this optional art class during lunch (you'd eat and then go into the art room to work on your own projects). I was just leaving the room to go to my next class, and I heard someone yelling as they ran down the hall, "Challenger just exploded. Challenger just exploded." I hurried to my next class, and the teacher was wheeling in a t.v. so we could watch. I remember feeling shocked and hoping beyond hope that the crew had somehow escaped and were floating in the ocean waiting for rescue.

It's so interesting that you bring this up--my specialty area is trauma, and during graduate school, I was attending a trauma conference where some of the country's leading experts were talking and sharing their research. One shared a paper that she had written on the Challenger explosion and trauma symptoms in two groups of children--young school-aged kids and 8th graders. The overall conclusion was the effect of "vicarious traumtization," as she called it, was correlated with connection to the event (by distance--those in FL watching the launch vs. those watching it on t.v., those who saw the explosion on live t.v. vs. those who heard about it later). At any rate, it was so strange sitting there as an adult hearing the results of this study, knowing that I could very well have been one of the older child subjects at the time.

It is so common with large-scale traumatic events that happen for people to remember what happened that day in excruciating detail. I bet everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing the morning of 9/11. My dad remembers exactly where he was the day President Kennedy was assasinated. When he tells the story, it is as if he was transported back to that day. The way we encode traumatic memories is so fascinating.

[Sillygirl]

OT, Erica, but what a very strange place for a school field trip! What is NHS - National Health Service?

I am really surprised at the responses - I would have bet I was one of the older members on this board, but I seem to be somewhere more towards the middle.

[mom_hanna]

I was in 10th grade. We were sitting in the hallway when a math teacher (Mr. Leiter) came down the hall and told us. we went into a nearby science room to watch the tv coverage. I remember it took a while for it to sink in what had just happened.

[redhookmom]

High school history class. Mr. Murray, the principal, made an announcement over the PA.

[ribbit1019]

I was in second grade. I don't remember much about it, but watching it on T.V. and my mom was very upset.

Never though I was that much younger than the majority, I guess I was wrong! Well except for Alicia!! You are my little sisters age girlie! :)

Christy
Maddy born 6/09/04
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Little Man due 3/02/06
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Co-Owner Ribbit Baby

Frogs are lucky, they eat what bugs them.

[trumansmom]

Yup. Count me in the old folks' group. :P

I was in my car leaving my gynecologist's office and listened to it on NPR.

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04
Independent Consultant, Do-Re-Me & You!

[elliput]

Yep, it was strange but very interesting at the same time.
NHS= National Honor Society.

[kimbe]

I was in 2nd grade too. I was sitting in class eating lunch. I went to a Catholic School at the time and I got home and my mom asked if we said a prayer for the astronauts and I said no -- she wasn't pleased!

[psophia17]

I think I'm the first 3rd grader to pipe up...

Some of the older grades watched it in class, but I went to a very small private school and there weren't enough TVs for all the classes to watch. It didn't register that anything had happened...all I knew as we didn't end up watching TV in class after all.

[schums]

I was in the 10th grade at the end of lunch period. A friend of mine who was on the school newspaper (which meant they could eat lunch in the newsroom instead of the cafeteria)came running up to me and said that they had just gotten word via the AP that the Challenger had exploded. My reaction? "You're full of it. Our space shuttles don't explode!" She insisted and I could tell she was telling the truth. I had swimming right after lunch, and they held us out of the water that day. The principal made an announcement about midway through the class period. After school, they just kept replaying the video over and over. I always felt bad for the NASA announcer that said "Houston, we seem to have a malfunction." Talk about the understatment of decade.

I truly think the Challenger explosion was our generation's Kennedy assasination.

Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I was at work at my first job after college, teaching. I had read the paper that morning and as I read about the planned launch that day, I had a vivid vision of it blowing up. Freaky. That was my only psychic experience, but I will always remember how real my vision was and how close it came to the images that we all saw repeated on television.

oh and yes, I am old. :)

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/superpower.gif http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/borntobebreastfed2.gif

[Bethann31]

You and me, Karen, you and me. I was teaching as well, as a sub right after college. Another teacher came in the room and said, "I don't know how you feel about space..." I immediately thought she meant I was invading hers. Then she told me, and we quickly took our classes to the cafeteria to watch it on tv.


Beth
mom to:

Josh 3/90
Mollie 4/92
Jeffrey 12/94
Katherine 6/03


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/lamlamsvi20030604_4_Katherine+Grace+is.png

[kaylinsmommy2]

I guess I'll be the first to say that I don't specifically have a memory of the Challenger exploding. I was 7 years old. I remember my dad letting me stay at home one morning (and allowing me to be late for school) so I could watch a shuttle take off. It might have been the Challenger, but I don't remember. And I don't remember that shuttle exploding. However, if it did, then my dad may not have said anything about it and just took me to school.

My memory sucks. :(

Caroline
"ma meee" to Kaylin 6/5/04

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[octmom]

9th grade, Mrs. Eickelberg's biology class. They brought televisions into classrooms and we watched the coverage. It was a Catholic school, so everyone prayed.

Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03
DD is scheduled to arrive via c/s on March 21! :)

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[tiapam]

I was a junior in HS. I don't think I saw it live on TV. My memory is that the principal came on the loudspeaker and announced it. I cannot remember what I was doing when Reagan was shot.

-Pam

DD - One year old!

[octmom]

My memories of Reagan getting shot are more vague--I think I was in around 5th grade and I watched coverage after school. I remember more about John Lennon being shot because very close family friends (my grandparents' best friends) lived in the Dakota House. I remember visiting them there and marveling at the upholstered benches in the elevator. They were friendly with John Lennon and took us by to meet him one day (I was very young), but he wasn't home. :(

I was at the last night, Pref Night, of sorority rush my sophomore year in college when I heard about the war in Iraq. I immediately left and got scolded on the way out by the girls in charge. Oh well. My friend, Elissa, and I watched some of the coverage and then walked to the Catholic church down the street to light a candle. The church was unlocked but pitch black and we couldn't find the candles. I was so worried that my brother, who was a college senior, and my friends would end up having to go fight in the war. Scary.

Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03
DD is scheduled to arrive via c/s on March 21! :)

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[mama2galpals]

count me into this crowd as well. it was the year after i graduated college and i was at my desk at my first job.


rita
mommy to
olivia '97
stella '00
emma '03

the truth may hurt your feelings, but lies will break your heart.


http://lilypie.com/baby3/030123/3/4/1/+10/.png

[jbowman]

I was sitting in the car with my friend's mom when it came over the radio that Reagan was shot. We were picking up my friend from soccer practice.

[Smiles81]

I was four years old. Don't remember it at all.

Reena
Mom to Dovi 3/16/04

[jayali]

I almost didn't post, but then I read some of the latter posts, so I don't feel soooo very old.

First job out of college. On the phone with our Orlando Florida branch, when the woman on the other end, who was apparently watching it on the TV while on the phone with me, started screaming and hung up on me. I had no idea what was going on until I called the branch back and then we all huddled into our bosses office and sat glued to the TV.

I guess in 15 years someone will be posting the very same question regarding 9-11. I can't believe how quickly the time goes.

[squimp]

I feel like a old fogey too. I actually don't remember where I was, and I had to look it up (January 28, 1986). I was a sophomore in college, and I didn't have much access to TV. But it's interesting, I find that younger folks feel it is more of a defining moment for them than do folks my age.

I remember distinctly where I was when the first man landed on the moon. I must have been 3, and I remember watching it with my dad on TV in our old family room. A very dark background with a clear image of a man in a spacesuit.

[lmintzer]

I just saw that someone posted the date. To the OP--did you realize today was the anniversary or was that just chance? It's been 20 years!

[daniele_ut]

I was also in 8th grade and we were watching it live on television. It is one of the few days from that year that I remember vividly!

[aguinn]

i was in 9th grade algebra class, and we had a TV wheeled in to watch it, too.

weird, thinking back on that now - i wonder if school's would do the same (bring in a TV) or if there's too much sensitivity that they might get into trouble with parents for even acknowledging that it had happened before the kids families had a chance to discuss it (or not, depending on the family and how they chose to address national disasters and such). i bring this up because i work at a private school, and when 9-11 happened, we went on with our day and did not notify our students (who are k-9). we let their parents address it with them at home first and then touched on it if there was a need, but we did not make a major discussion out of it.

ETA: i realize that many of you were watching it from the beginning of the launch, as an educational tool, so my comments about wheeling in the tv don't really apply there....

;)amy
momma to DS#1 "Big Brother" (BB) and, finally, DS#2 "Little Brother" (LB)

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"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." ~ Neil Postman

[chiqanita]

Not a 'youngun' compared to you but sure was compared to the people I was with when the Challenger exploded.

I was 20 y.o. Working at Ticor Title in Rosemead, CA. The ceiling mounted television was tuned into the launch and in a few seconds I witnessed the explosion with about 40 people. The room went from loud excitement to complete silence and shock. Many cried. Many just stood there in disbelief. We were all affected deeply. No one went back to work that day, we all just talked about it all day long.

Very sad, I thought, and there was a young teacher/mother on board. I hoped that some if not all could be saved somehow, denial. I saw it explode. Who could survive that?

[MichelleRC]

11th grade chemistry class taking a midterm. I am trying to remember if we watched TV at school--I am thinking I didn't get to see the coverage until we got home and saw the news. I cannot believe it has been 20 years.

[kdeunc]

I was home from school sick (9th grade). I can remember calling my mom at work to tell her. It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years.

[nfowife]

I was in 3rd grade. We were watching it on TV and I remember talking about what happened afterwards. We also sometimes watched the shuttles take off from outside (I lived in South Florida and you can usually see them take off) but I don't remember doing that that day.

[ErinMC]

4th grade - we had the option to stay in from recess to watch the launch, since Christa McAuliffe was on it. So I watched it happen live. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Unbelievable that it's been 20 years.

Erin

Mom to Chase Feb. 04
... and another little guy coming in June :-)

[heatherlynn]

Senior in HS - 1st period physiology class.

H-
Heather
dd 3/98
ds 8/04
dd 11/05

[caridura]

DH and I were just discussing how OLD we feel now that it is the 20yr anniversary. I was in the 6th grade and saw it happen from the playground of my elementary school. I will never forget it.

[kath68]

12th grade. I was at home because there was a teacher meeting that morning, so school started late. I remember having the tv on watching the launch as I got ready for school -- an uncommon thing in my house to have the tv on in the morning. I yelled to my mom that it blew up, and she came running.

ETA: Changed the grade -- I had it wrong! Ooops!

[jk3]

I was in fourth grade. They brought a tv into our class so we could watch the launch so I saw the tragedy live.

Jenn
DS 6/3/03

[linsei]

I was 9 and in 4th grade (I think). Watching the shuttles was such a big deal then. All the 4th graders were taken to the school library, where we watched the take off.

It's so strange how times have changed. The space program doesn't get that much attention anymore.

Linda

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[aliceinwonderland]

"I had JUST turned three, so I guess I was in mursery school.

This thread is great for my ego. I may have saggy breast-feeding boobs, but they're YOUNG saggy breast-feeding boobs! ; )"

A saggy boob is a sagy boob, my friend. :) :)

PS. I have no idea where I was when this happened...I had actually forgotten about this!! Oops.

[wilelm]

Yet another 11th-grader here. We were watching it live in history class.

Sheila
Mama to Miriam, 03/2003
and Gabriel, 12/04

[Marisa6826]

Hey!

Play nice with the "old" saggy boob owners. We're older and out number you! :P

-m

[KrisM]

I was in 10th grade German class. I remember very clearly an announcement being made on the PA system about it.

[Sillygirl]

I didn't remember the date beforehand, but CNN and other news outlets have been running tributes all day, so that inspired the question.

[Sillygirl]

Interesting - West Coast, I take it? Because I remember just having come in from lunch.

[jamsmu]

>I also remember the night the Iraqi war started. I was
>walking through Trump tower (which has a huge, magnificent
>indoor atrium filled with bamboo trees). I had just left from
>getting my haircut. A homeless veteran and I cross paths, and
>we talked about it. We both just prayed for peace, but knew
>it wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
>
>-m


Don't remember Reagan being shot (I was in 1st grade, I guess.) But I remember when the Iraq war "ended." I was at a Sixers game with my then boyfriend, my dad, his friend and my sister and her friend. They actually stopped the game so everyone could listen to the report and we all stood and sang some America songs. Then, the players, who had been frozen on court, just started playing again.

[omgrown]

I was in 4th grade, Mr. Angermyer's class. All three 4th grade classes squeezed into one of the classrooms and watched the news on the TV on the rolling cart. I think the one 4th grade class (I can't remember the other teacher's name) was watching it live, I remember that teacher being way into science and model rockets. It came over the loudspeaker and then we went to the other classroom and watched the news. I remember it being so sad.

[karolyp]

I was in second grade when it happened. We lived in Merritt Island, where Kennedy Space Center is located, and both my parents work there(and still do). So whenever a launch went up, the teachers would take the students outside so we could watch. However, this time I decided to stay indoors bc I had already seen previous launches and simply was not interested in seeing another. Shortly afterwards, I remember the students running in yelling that it had exploded but I don't remember much afterwards. The weird thing is that I don't remeber it being cold that day and supposdly that was one of the coldest days ever and the reason the o ring failed. But afterwards I had made a vow to my self to never take another launch for granted. It truly is a beautiful and amazing sight.

[s7714]

6th grade. The whole school (5th thru 8th) was in the library watching it on several tvs. I remember everyone clapping and cheering when the count ended and it lifted off...then the silence when it exploded. I don't think most of us knew what happened, only that something had gone terribly wrong. A couple of teachers ran off to tell other people who hadn't been watching, and then the teachers started telling us to head back to our homerooms. I mainly just remember feeling tremendously sorry for Christa McAuliffe's children because their mommy had died.

Jennifer
Mommy to
DD 3/03
DD 6/05

Calling fellow BBB SoCal moms...we'd love to meet you!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/babybargainssocal/

[trumansmom]

I also have a very clear and vivid memory of watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon. The funny thing is a couple of years ago, my older brother told me we were on a camping trip and actually listened to it on the radio. :P

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04
Independent Consultant, Do-Re-Me & You!

[elliput]

My DH says his first clear memory is seeing the TV broadcast of the moon landing through the bars of his crib. He would have been 15-16 months old.

[kalebsmama]

I was remembering this earlier and can't believe it's been 20 years. I was a senior in college and at my parents house while they were out of town. I went to school in my home town. I remember lying on the couch watching TV while doing my laundry and watching the launch.

It also reminds me of being out with 3 friends one night and they started talking about where they had been when President Kennedy had been shot. They all told about being in elementary school and watching the TV and then looked at me for my answer. I shrugged and said I knew exactly where I was but didn't remember the event since my mom had been 6 months pregnant with me!

[almostamom]

I was a freshman at Arizona State. I was driving home from a 7:40 a.m. class when the DJ on the radio cut in to share the news. I remember exactly what building I was in front of, the radio station, and the DJ's name. He was choked up while he was speaking.

~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[almostamom]

Jan, this is totally off the topic here, but I just have to tell you how nice it is to see a post from you. I was brand new to the BBB when you became a mom to Kate. In fact, yours was one of the first BBB posts I ever read and I always remember the beautiful story of how she became your daughter. Anyway, good to "see" you around.

~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[C99]

>I feel like a old fogey too. I actually don't remember where
>I was, and I had to look it up (January 28, 1986).

I don't remember where I was either. I was 11 at the time.

OTOH, I totally remember where I was and what I was doing when the Columbia exploded. That was the day that Nathaniel was released from the NICU and we got to take him home.

[newmama4]

I was feeling really old earlier this week, and this hasn't helped - oh well.

I was a freshman in college and was eating lunch. A friend asked me if I wnated to go into the tv room in the cafeteria to watch the liftoff - (I cna't remember ever eating there before). I said sure. So we watched it liftoff and explode with total disbelief. I remember going to class after that - ancient Greek and telling the class and the prof. We talked about it for a while and then kept on learning Greek. Maybe that's why I never did major in the Classics, who knows. Wow, I havn't thought about this in ages. Amazing what memories can be recalled by a tragedy.

Elise
Hannah Meira's Eema (11/16/04)

[buddyleebaby]

LOL!

I consider them to be badges (boobs?) of honor.

[mamamayi]

You know, this discussion really shows how some things stick so much in your head you really DO remember what you were doing when it happened. I was in a laundromat doing laundry and saw it on a small tv in there.

[dr mom]

Eighth grade, Geometry class. We didn't see it happen, only a few classrooms had TVs, but we were all listening on the radio. I lived in Gainesville Florida, and we could often see the shuttle passing high overhead, if the weather was clear.

For our generation, I think it's the equivalent of where our parents were when Kennedy was shot.

[kalebsmama]

Thanks Linda! I don't make it over here as much any more and often find myself lurking more than posting! It's nice to see someone misses me!! My avatar is pretty old - hard to believe Kate is already 27 months old!

[heatherlynn]

Yep, Cupertino, California.

H-
Heather
dd 3/98
ds 8/04
dd 11/05

[Radosti]

I was 9 years old. I was in Ukraine, had just finished watching the evening cartoons and the soviet news came on. They reported that earlier that day the Challenger exploded and it was a huge tragedy for the US. They then followed it up with some silly statement of "that's what capitalists get when they try to get ahead and don't do the project right."

[hautemama15]

I was a Sophomore in high school sitting in one of my classes, which one I don't remember.

[maestramommy]

Gee, I feel old! When was it, 1986? I was a senior in HS. I walked into the orchestra room to practice, and someone said, "Did you hear, the Challenger exploded." I was in shock. I think this was the first national disaster (of this kind and scale) I had heard of. And because one of the astronauts was a teacher we had all been following the story. I watched the footage much later. It was awful to hear the cheering turn to screams of shock, then silence when the shuttle exploded. Of course, in the months after that, the "Challenger Jokes" started. I don't know what was wrong with people in the 80's. We had jokes for Ethiopia too. :-(

[mainepotato]

I was in the first grade. We were living in NH, not too far from Christa McAuliffe's school, and that morning they had gathered our whole elementary school into the gymnasium so that we could watch on little tv's. I was a very confused 6-yr-old and really didn't understand what I had seen until they shuffled us back to our classrooms and talked to us about it. I think they sent us home early that day.

[cmdunn1972]

Alright, I'll date myself from the outset. (I've nothing to hide.) I'm 33. :)

I was in 8th grade. I was in English class and remember the math teacher from across the hall coming over and calling our teacher out of class. It was a serious conversation even though I couldn't tell exactly what was being said. When our teacher came back to us she announced what had happened and brought a TV with her. We watched the news broadcast of the explosion in class.

It was Catholic school. I don't remember if we prayed or not (we probably did), but I remember feeling stunned as I watched the images.

[cmdunn1972]

Erica, your DH sounds like my Dad, who swears he remembers his circumsicion. ;)

[kboyle]

I was about 5 1/2. And I will honestly say that I don't remember anything about it. And the worst part is, I think we were living in Florida by then.

I do remember when the Gulf War began though, 5th grade.

[tarabenet]

Jeanne, I remember the landing and moonwalk. I was staying with my grandparents, and I wanted my grandmother to tuck me in and read me a story, but she didn't want to miss the landing. So I dozed off and on through the TV coverage.

When the Challenger exploded, I was in college. When Columbia exploded, I was running for a phone trying to make sure my parents weren't in the debris field, because it went right over their place as it was blowing apart.

[missiethegal]

I sorta remember it... that was the same week my little sister was born, a much more memorable event-- I must say. I do remember being at my grandma's house and watching it replay on the news. I was in 1st grade-- (but I am now dealing with the idea that my baby sister is already 20!!)

[kep]

I guess I *am* one of the younger mom's here! I was also 6, and just starting first grade. My teacher never mentioned it, and my Mom didn't tell me or my little brother about it at all. I found out about it a few years later.

Kelli
Mama to Luke
4.2003

[Sarah1]

I was in Mrs. Guinyard's math class (7th grade) and we were in the library that day. The principal came on the intercom, told us what happened and there was a moment of silence. It was chilling. I'll never forget that.

[starrynight]

I was a toddler and have no memories of when it happened. I do recall hearing about it later in my childhood from my mom and teachers in school.

[jerseygirl07067]

History class, I was in 11th grade. DH actually watched the takeoff while walking to class, he was a freshman in college in central FL (UCF) and noticed it didn't look "right".

Marcy