Monday, July 20, 2009

The Year I Became a Teenager


Much is being said about 1969, with the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, and a multimedia offering on the NY Times focusing on the culture from that year was a reminder for me that although I spent most of that year being 12, it was also the year I became a teen.

The moon landing was much on my mind that summer, as I had followed the earlier Apollo launches and built models of the Mercury and Apollo vehicles. My aunt Jan and her husband were in Florida working for NASA, and they sent me, just another kid far from the action, posters, articles, and even a NASA pocketknife. I had a poster of the Saturn rocket on my wall; my friend Randy Schumacher wanted it badly. He too was an avid fan of the space missions.

It's a long time ago now, but 1969 was a big year.

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