“50 x 3 x 3 x 1”

Fifty years ago today

(I was a couple of months away from turning three)

three astronauts flew Apollo 11 to the moon

(a decade or so after Sinatra sang about doing the same thing)

and saw things and felt emotions so rare and incredible

(that were out of this world)

we could only hope to experience in our lifetime.

 

The documentaries all say that any mistakes would have been costly

(astronomical, in the truest sense).

 

Preceded and succeeded by failures and tragedies

(Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia, to name just a few)

and fueled by fear, adrenaline, courage, and who knows what else

(the right stuff?)

They made it

(and so did we).