Mental Snapshot - That's the Future, Son

I'm sure that many people carry with them what I call "mental snapshots", little frozen snippets of their childhood which seem almost unnaturally clear, standing out amongst the endless gray-blurred memories of a lifetime. Most often for me, these are memories of a time when I was very young... 2 or 3 years old in some cases. The first one I'll relate occurred when I was about 2 years old.

Even after almost 25 years after his death, a day doesn't pass that I don't think of my father. He was one of the wisest, kindest, gentlest men it has been my pleasure to know. Although not well schooled, he was a very intelligent man, maintaining an interest in science and technology all his life.

My first recollection of him was on a cool October evening in 1957. We lived near Detroit and were visiting Family in Toledo at the time. The "snapshot" occurred on the back porch of my aunt and uncle's house. Dad hoisted me up, holding me at eye level with him, and we were looking out at the evening sky. He pointed to a point of light that looked like a star, except that it was moving quickly and silently across the sky. As we watched the light, I can still hear his voice as though it was yesterday... "That's the future, son."

Although the recollection of that memory only came to me a few years ago, the event was just first of many, many experiences with dad that fueled my fascination with spaceflight, technology and things scientific. We watched every manned-space mission together... Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, either live or on the evening news. Dad, my brother and I huddled around the TV all night long watching Neil Armstrong (the first man to step on the moon) and Buzz Aldrin (the first man to pee on the moon) make their historic venture out of the Eagle.

So I guess it's no wonder I turned into such a geek and am inspired to investigate the how's and why's of everything I do. After all... that's the future, son.