Out Of This World

We were sitting around the dinner table last night and talking about the shuttle launch. Three of my housemates and I all planned to watch it, but since it launched at 2:20am we were still discussing what time to get up. I wanted to go out to the beach so there would be fewer lights. But which beach to go to? One of my roommates commented that if we left soon we could just drive up to Cocoa Beach and watch from there. A silence filled the room as we all secretly longed to do exactly that but weren't sure if anyone else was serious. Well a few cat naps and cups of coffee later, we were on the road. We ended up going to Titusville and had an amazing view. When the countdown was under 5 minutes we gathered together to pray for the launch, the mission, Commander Gorie (I work with his daughter!), the rest of the crew, and the families of the crew. When the shuttle ignited, the whole sky lit up, kind of a peach color, bright as the day. The shuttle crept up and disappeared through the clouds. Just as it was hidden from site, the roar reached us. A long, loud, rumbling that seemed to go on a ridiculous amount of time. It was one of the most amazing and beautiful experiences I have ever had. And then as we drove away, we were all in a state of shock almost. It is very hard to come to terms with the fact that our friend's father is in outerspace right now. Weird.