A college freshman home during summer break, I visited my disabled brother at a state institution near Denver, Colorado, on July 20, 1969. Suddenly I was herded into a community room with a black and white TV. Neil Armstrong in his white space suite was making his "giant step for mankind." I looked around the room at the resident men. Some were watching the screen. Few were saying anything about what was happening. No one was laughing or otherwise appeared excited.
Later that day I wondered if my brother or the other residents there understood the once-in-a-lifetime significance of what we had just seen. Years later I realized that I did not fully understand the importance of the moon landing at the time. I did not know how the space race, Cold War politics and new technology would change my life in the future.
Now I think that, like my co-watchers at that state "home" in Colorado fifty years ago, I do not know what is going to happen next. We are swept along in the flow of history. What I have learned is that, no matter what happens, I need to look around and try to be good to myself and the people around us.
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