20 years since Challenger.
I remember being in my mom's living room. Not a big "space" person, I watched casually as it launched. I saw it go up with the trail of white following behind. I saw something come off....that usually happens, right? I thought to myself. Parts that are just dead weight...rocket boosters, etc. I thought to myself, knowingly. I'm so clever. Then the fateful "Y". The split. I sat there trying to get my mind around it. Initially, being "space" naive, I truly thought that it was supposed to do that. But I started questioning almost immediately. "Hey, mom. Come in here." She came. "Is that supposed to happen?" We watched, and within moments knew. Knew from the horrified looks on the families faces who were there to watch their loved ones make history. The solemn voices of ground control and the commentators.

Doing the adventurous, the daring is a risk. Tragedy happens every single moment of every single day. On a personal and a societal level in every culture and every country. But the Challenger tragedy, like the death of John Lennon, JFK, Princess Di, the Twin Towers and similar sudden shocks to the system are gages of our collective timelines. We all remember where we were, what we were doing, who we were with when these sorts of things happen.

I will take at least several moments today to think and reflect on the bravery of those who venture to places I don't even dream of going.