What terrible news to wake up to. Columbia was always my shuttle. I had the records (picture disks even!) of it. I still remember traces of the songs - big sweeping patriotic hopeful majestic songs. I was young. It was the early eighties. It was a beautiful time (1980-1984 is sacred to me ;), we could still dream.
Today, it's like that terrible day in fifth grade all over again. Like many school children, our entire grade gathered around the television to watch the launch, live. And there, live, we watched the destruction. A lot of hope and dreams and lives were crushed that day. As a young boy dreaming about the future (I was always the one to get the Space-themed Legos) it was a tough day for me. Sitting here today in this weird energy field (the electricity of an approaching front to end this unseasonable warmth), it all takes me back.