Rest in Peace....

Wally Schirra, one of the original 7 astronauts ever created, has died at the age of 84. He flew in all three original programs: Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. It was his flight in Apollo 7 that certified the craft a go for lunar landings.

He, like all those astronauts, was one of my heroes. In a really perfect world, I'd be an astronaut.

I LOVE the space program and even though I live right where they Blast Off, launches never get old and I am giddy on every one of them, watching from the front yard.

When I was a baby, my parents drove to the Cape to watch John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth.

When my sons were babies, I drove THEM to the Cape to watch John Glenn become the first Old Guy to go up in the Shuttle.

The whole IDEA brings tears to my eyes and goose pimples to my skin. I am never prouder to be an American, or a human being, than when we are Go for Launch and the boosters go THWUUUMP and the smoke and the fire and the

SWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH


and the rumble and the impossibly bright, swift-moving star that disappears into the sky...

And now another star joins the heavens...

God Speed, Sir...