50 Years Ago: The Apollo Moon Landing

Buzz Aldrin walks near the lunar module (NASA file photo)

All week long there have been stories in the news about the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing.  Well known genealogy blogger Judy Russell went into great detail about her memories of the day.  One of the recurring themes during the week has been, "Everyone remembers exactly where they were when it happened."

Except, apparently, me.

Well, I kind of remember.

What I remember is my mother gathering the three of us children together and having us sit in front of the television set, telling us, "This is important.  This is history.  You need to watch this."

But I don't remember anything else.  Not Armstrong's famous words (with or without the "a").  Not film of him or Aldrin walking on the Mooon's surface.  Not the U.S. flag on the Moom.  Not the shot of the Earth from the Moon.

ZIp.  Zilch.  Zero.  The big bagel.

All I remember is my mother telling me it was important.

You'd think that at 7 years old I would have committed more to memory.  I even remember some things that happened when I was much younger, about 2 1/2 years old.

But nope, not the Moon landing.  In one eye and out the other.

I guess that means that to me my mother was more important than the Moon landing.

Well, maybe that isn't so bad after all.