posted 05-16-2003 07:05 PM               

I got into Star Trek and Star Wars pretty heavily in the intervening years, and have now rekindled my interest in the space program. I'm going to meet a (former) astronaut for the first time two weeks from tonight, when Rick Searfoss comes to my hometown...I'm so excited! So, I have space memories since I was a kid too...well, I'm still a kid, just a 30-year-old one!

I'd love to hear more stories...keep them coming! Carrie

posted 05-17-2003 03:58 PM               

"One morning in April, 1959, my father called me into our family's dining room. 'I've got bad news for you, Donnie,' he said, holding up the front page of that morning's Chicago Tribune. 'They've chosen our country's first spacemen.'

"Dad knew that, like many seven-year-old boys of that day, I had big ambitions--war hero, scuba diver, President of the United States--but none was more dear to my heart than to be the first man to set foot on the moon. He picked up the telephone. 'Listen,' he said, 'if you want, I'll call the President right now and see if I can talk him into taking you.'

"I had to ponder the moment seriously. President Eisenhower already knew about me, because I had written him a letter some time before that, complete with a diagram of a rocket ship (as I recall now, it had no room for fuel, but did come equipped with stairs--which I misspelled 'stars'--to get the pilot from ground level up to the windshield) and illustrated instructions of how to shoot down a flying saucer ('make sure to lead them'). Ike had been so impressed and delighted with my letter that he had instructed one of his aides to write me back, including a card with a genuine facsimile of the President's signature. Heck, we were practically buddies. Between that and my confidence in my father's powers of persuasion, I knew that if Dad dialed those last few numbers, I was as good as in. After some moments of deep contemplation, I made a life-changing decision. 'No, Dad,' I said. 'I think I better stay here.'

"That's how close you and I came to being colleagues..."

The rest of the letter told about how, decades later, my daughter had bought me his book after observing how spellbound I had been while watching his shuttle launch on TV (and how, I'm sure, I wouldn't shut up about it). I signed it "Don Sturm, (Almost) Mercury 8 Astronaut."

The former senator graciously signed, personalized, and dated the book and returned it within the month. Although I am aware that Mr. Glenn is known for being a good signer, it remains perhaps my favorite item in my rather modest collection.

I don't know if he even read the letter, but I would like to think that maybe, for just a moment, I brought a smile to the hero's face.

My father--who turns 76 the day after tomorrow (Happy Birthday, Dad!!)--did remember the incident.

Anyway, I think that tells something about why I collect. Although I appreciate things in ways that I couldn't have as a child in the '50s and '60s, the whole subject does have a tendency to make me feel young and curious again, and to believe that our destiny is unbounded.

Thanks for listening! I'd like to hear your stories, too.

posted 05-17-2003 10:58 PM               

Hope your hand is up to the challenge.
I also see that this was your 4th post, so let me welcome you to Collectspace.
Your gonna fit right in.

Ed