Apollo 11 40th Anniversary.

[ChrisH]

For some reason my parents and some of their friends at church decided that July 20th, 1969 would be a perfect day for a beach party. This was apparenty determined sometime before the launch actually happened so there was no way to tell what date the landing would actually occur. To add insult to injury they weren't going to the beach a mile or so from our house, we were going to one an hour away. ( I still haven't figured that part out )

When it became clear that the beach party was taking place and I was going to be there moon landing or no, I was very upset. How could the most space happy kid in the neighborhood miss an event like this? But at 10 years old I was considered too young to be left alone.

Then we got to the beach and found that nobody had even thought to bring a transistor radio! While my parents assurances that "don't worry they will show the whole thing over and over on TV after we get home" did prove correct. Watching it just wasn't the same when you already knew what happened.

Someday, I might forgive my parents for that day, but I'm not quite there yet.