When I was in the 4th and 5th grades I was obsessed with space and space exploration. My heroes where the men and women who put their lives at risk and did what I could only dream of doing. Astronauts like Buzz Aldrin, John Glenn, and Sally Ride where who I wanted to be like when I grew up.
I wanted more than anything to go to space camp those years, but we never had the money for it. Instead I put puzzles together of the milky way, read every book I could get my hands on, and dreamt that one day I would get to follow in those footsteps. That day never happened, but that never slowed my interest or passion for the subject.
Millions of other kids have shared that dream, a lot of them in my generation, because of Sally Ride. She gave all of us, especially young girls, the inspiration to dream big. She is one of my personal heroes and for that inspiration, she will always have my gratitude.
She will be rememberd for what she did, but her legacy will live on in the millions of young people who got into the sciences because of the example she gave us to follow.
This made me so sad. She was a trailblazer.
ReplyDeleteI am so mad that Sally Ride's partner (of 27 freakin' years!) is ineligible for federal survivor's benefits because of DOMA. Paul and I lived together for many years before getting married and didn't really have much intention of tying the knot, because we were perfectly happy with the way things were. However, when we moved here and I had no job and no insurance, the way to get me covered was to get married. Because of DOMA, I had no rights as a domestic partner. America is (as far as I know) the only western democracy where this is an issue. Not only are we required to be heterosexual to fully participate in society, we're required to be legally married, as well. Sorry about the rant! Sheesh, Lauren!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about Sally Ride, as well. What a trailblazer for women and for space exploration.