He was right. I woke up at 11:30 this morning and did what I always do -- flip on the tube. Instead of some dumbass kids' cartoon, George Stephanopolous was talking somberly on ABC. My first thought was "Assassination? Terrorist attack?"
Instead, I was transported smack dab back to walking in a single file line to lunch after gym class in 6th grade. I casually ask my teacher, "Did Challenger take off?" (My dream job at the age of 11 was to be an astronaut.) Mrs. Metthe gave me a strange, sad look and said, "No, it exploded."
My hometown was only about an hour away from Concord, N.H. I remember teachers fighting back tears as we watched the coverage for the rest of the day.
The Best Friend and I coped by making horrible, horrible jokes. It something, sadly, that we do every time there's a big national tragedy.
I called her this morning and she said, "I was about to call you. You were the first person I thought of."