Fulfilling a Dream

I wanted to take my kids to see a Space Shuttle launch. My husband, Walt, and I met while working on the Shuttle program.

Walt had worked on the Space Shuttle for years - he managed many groups that were in charge of all the electrical systems on the shuttles, and also the Tile Information system. But he never went to an actual launch in person; he felt it was wiser to be nearby to his group of engineers whenever a launch was taking place.

But he had often said, “Just think, honey, one day we will take the kids to see a launch.”

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It was October 1998.

I had carefully planned our trip; I chose the mission in which John Glenn would be returning to space at age 77. I thought that might make it more memorable.

We took a red-eye flight and I sat in the middle. As soon as we took off, both of the kids promptly fell asleep leaning against me. I was basically stuck sitting up.

When we got to our hotel, I just had to sleep.

Ryan was 10 and super-responsible. I told them they could wander around on the hotel grounds, and to stay together. Our room was on the first floor and faced a grassy area. I left the door open and lay down to sleep.

I awoke about 2 hours later, and it wasn’t long before my kids came running back into the room, in total excitement.

They were drenched, and had dirt and grass on their arms and faces. They were each holding up the edge of their shirts, carefully holding onto something.

“Mom! Mom! You won’t believe what we have!!”

They were so excited they could barely get the words out as they came over and dumped hundreds of coins, mostly pennies, onto the bed. They looked triumphant.

“Where did you get these?” I asked.

“Mom, there’s a fountain in front of the hotel, and it’s filled with free money!!”

“Yeah, Mom! You can keep whatever you can get! We got in and got almost all of it!!”

I looked at the two of them: “You got this out of a fountain?”

“Yes!!” they exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Sigh.

Seriously, the Ramelow children were known for being rather bright. They came out of the womb understanding fractions.

So this was not one of their finest moments.

“You need to go back there and put all this money back. Now.”

“But why Mom??” began the refrain, “we worked really hard to make all that money.”

I told them they hadn’t “made” any money, and I explained the concept of “making wishes” by throwing a coin into the water.

I told them again to go return it. Now.

They hung their heads and looked surprised they had a Mom who did not understand all of their hard work. They scooped up the money, dragging their feet as they walked out of the room.

They were back 5 minutes later, their shirts hanging wet and filthy, looking totally dejected.

A great start to our trip hahaha.

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The next day we went to visit Kennedy Space Center.

It turned out I had been so right about there being so much more interest because John Glenn would be on board the flight. There were many more people, and a lot more news coverage.

I was worried my kids might not think the Space center was very interesting, but I could not have been more wrong!

They loved it. The exhibits there were fun and very interactive, and it was very humbling to stand next to some of the enormous spacecraft on display.

And John Glenn was featured everywhere.

People were happy and excited to be there for such a historic event.

That evening, before the launch the next day, we were all so excited. I had bought some t-shirts illustrating this specific launch, STS-95. I laid them out along with my little gold locket that I always took to honor Walt.

We could barely sleep!

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We got up early the next morning, and drove to the launch site. People were arriving with lounge chairs and picnic blankets. Everyone was in a good mood, and feeling patriotic.

I ran into someone I had worked with at Rockwell named Erica. She had trained me on the Tile Data Base; she too had come from California to see the launch.

Erica said Al Roker was down the street doing his weather reports for the Today Show. She suggested we go stand near him, and maybe the kids and I could get on TV.

We headed over and saw him in his chair. There was lots of room to stand around him.

I knew my father was watching the launch at home and was recording it for me. I called and told him to turn to channel 4.

I also called my kids’ school and asked to talk to Hannah’s teacher. She had planned to have her class watch the launch. They all knew Hannah was there.

“Hi Mrs. Petersen! It’s Lisa Ramelow.”

“Hi Lisa!” she said. “We have the TV on and are waiting to see the launch!”

I told her to switch to the Today show, and she did.

Al Roker went live and gave his weather report. We were standing right behind him!

(Mrs. Petersen later told me the class was way more excited to see Hannah waving on TV, than they were about the launch hahaha)

People were holding portable radios everywhere, so when it came time for the countdown, we could hear it all around us. Everyone was jumping with excitement.

Before even getting to “10-9-8,” the engines began to rumble, and the ground shook.

It was so incredibly thrilling; you could feel the immense power as the countdown finished: “..5-4-3-2-1-LIFTOFF!!”

It was absolutely magnificent.

I reached up with both my hands and held onto my gold locket, as the Shuttle hurtled into the sky. Tears streamed down my face, as I told Walt I loved him.

I could feel his presence so intently.

I thanked him for everything, for Ryan and Hannah, and for loving me the way he had.

It was such an incredibly moving experience for me.

It had taken 8 years, but I had fulfilled one of his dreams.

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