Titusville - Honor those before us

 

A lone flagpole with meaning to a few

Titusville has many memorials to those who forged ahead at less than 100% certainty but there's one I found that's very modest. It's in Sand Point Park and it's a simple flagpole with names of astronauts arrayed around who lost their lives in exploring space. I visited there yesterday and stood by each plaque for a moment in silence. 

One of several arrayed around the pole, with a dried rose fixed in place with a piece of bark

I noticed that someone had placed a rose on each plaque and tried to weigh it down with a piece of bark or a shell. I wondered who that might be, a relative, a friend - I didn't know. And yet there is no shortage of those applying for the few astronauts openings available. At one time, I wanted to be a pilot but my eyesight was not good enough so I settled for running a radar unit in Alaska as a Space Survellience Officer in Shemya, Alaska between stints at NORAD in Colorado. I thought it was enough of a sacrifice at the time to be away from Ann for a year on my assignment in Shemya but it doesn't compare to the risks and sacrifices of the astronauts. 

Be thankful for what you have, every day.