I began to follow Christa’s journey in the newspapers, through reports from Lea’s parents, and on the TV news. I wished we could have another evening at the Taylors’, but I knew Christa didn’t have the time for that.
Christmas was in a few weeks. And after that, it wouldn’t be long before Christa and the rest of the crew would go off to Cape Canaveral, which used to be called Cape Kennedy. Cape Canaveral was actually the Air Force base and shuttles were launched from Kennedy Space Center right next door. Most NASA people just called it The Cape. The crew would be put in isolation a week before the launch, which was in January. Not long now.
I wanted to go. Badly.
Lea’s father hadn’t heard back about the launch pass. I was waiting for that news before I asked my mom. But that was an excuse. If I couldn’t get a pass, I’d still be able to see the liftoff from a place close by the Kennedy Space Center, maybe on a beach in Cocoa Beach. So the only reason I was delaying talking to Mom was because I was a big fat coward, as Lea said.
But right now, I couldn’t bear to hear the word no. The longer I put off asking Mom, the longer I could pretend I was actually going.
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I checked the mailbox daily. Nothing for me.