in Memorial

This week marks the anniversary of that fateful day (8/17/22) when I wandered the 3rd floor of the SSPF looking for Matt, asking if anyone had seen him, fielding text messages from my husband as he was asking frantically if anyone had seen him. Begging that the wreck on Hall Road that morning could have possibly been anyone else ... 

Here's a photo of Matt beside his cubicle.

This week I took our Little Moon Girls to the KSC Visitor Complex. We had fun. Here's a photo of the Moons looking into the Payload Bay of the Shuttle Atlantis.

Here's a photo of our youngest crawling through the model International Space Station.

On the drive back there was a yellow light at Hall Road. I probably could have made it across the intersection before it changed to red, but instead I slowed down, stopped, and waited through the light. I watched as people took that left turn on the yellow. They seemed grateful that I left them room. As we got our green light I turned off the music in the car and told the girls about that morning. About what happened to their friend's daddy right there when someone ran a red light. We spoke about grief and sadness. And driving safely.

I didn't tell them that I experienced a near miss on that road the other day. That I went through a yellow light and a car was doing a u-turn from that same left turn lane that Matt was in when he was rammed, and another was turning right into the same spot. We were three cars very close to each other, that could have collided in a very dangerous way, except we were all driving very slowly and saw each other and nothing happened for us. We looked at one another and realized the near miss.

 It hit me how dangerous that intersection still is, and how many tourists visiting the KSC Visitor's Complex, and employees are NASA, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Airbus and the other universities and companies based at Exploration Park are put in a compromising situation daily at that poorly timed intersection. :( 

This week I did my training and was badged in at the Space Life Sciences Lab. I am working with SyNRGE and picking up my work from my postdoc. It's 2025. It seems monumental and worth mentioning.

Here's a photo of me saying "Live Long and Prosper" from the front window on the second floor, looking out at the flags.

I am looking forward to this opportunity to shake off the haze and finish the work from my postdoc. I am hopeful. But I am also cautious.

Live Long and Prosper!