I know exactly where I was when I heard about Challenger blowing up - I can tell you exactly which desk in which room, the color of the walls, what I was supposed to be doing but wasn't... (I learned how to french braid my hair in study hall that year.)
I remember watching the replays on television over and over and over before lunch and then we were supposed to go on with our academic day.
Listening to the NPR coverage of it being 25 years (how did I get to be so old?!) there was a reference to the shuttle explosion later on. That's vivid, but for different reasons- I was trapped in a traffic jam, desperate to get home, and turned on the radio for a distraction. Certainly a distraction...
My heart breaks for the families of these brave men and women, and I do not say that lightly. RIP.
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I was in a friend's dorm room across the hall from my own. We were hanging out (not going to class? I don't remember), with the idea of watching the Challenger go up. It was surreal. You saw it kind of pop, fall apart....it took a few minutes to realize that wasn't supposed to happen, that they were dead. It was a strange thing to see - like watching Reagan get shot only I wasn't really upset about that - live.
Nice to see you back blogging again! I had dropped your link when you were inactive for a long time, and am happy to have restored it just now.
I, too, remember January 28, 1986 very well, for several reasons. I had just returned to Indiana after five years in central Florida, and it was my first day at the current day job. Returning to the cold northlands after a long absence, I believe I became reacquainted with some microbes I hadn't seen for a long time. By noon, I'd tossed my cookies twice and went "home" sick ... and the radio gave me the Challenger news on the way. All in all, an event-filled day, and I could easily have done without most of the events.
I was watching TV as it happened. I also remember thinking that the astronauts families were watching the same thing on closed-circuit TV. How horrible for them.
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