“The Moon and Me”

The friend that I spent the most time with in my childhood was the TV. Much of this time had a telling impact on my life; some good, some bad. One of the most significant happened on a hot August day in 1969. I can still remember it as if it were only a moment ago.
I hurried to my place, before the others got there and turned on the TV. I didn’t need to go so fast, since I’m almost ten now and everyone knows it’s my spot. Everybody has their own, anyway. Grandpa always sits on the end of the couch and puts his feet on the table. Lisa and Todd, my little sister and brother, sit by him and Dad sits on one of the chairs at my side.
“Today is something very special,” Mom says from the kitchen. Her and Grandma are washing dishes ‘cause we just ate. You can still the TV from there.
“Is it the “Wizard of Oz”?” I asked her. I sure hope so. I remember seeing when that President guy got shot. I didn’t like that ‘cause it made my Mom cry. Made my little sister start cryin’ too seeing our Mom cry like that. When I asked her why, she just kept sayin’, “They killed John! They killed John!”
“No, not today.”
“Oh.” There’s that news guy on here now my Grandma likes. He’s wearin’ a little black tie and a white shirt like my Daddy wears to his work.
I like coming here to Grandma’s. It’s kind of a long drive, though. Dad says it only takes a half an hour, but it seems lots longer than that. I love Grandma’s food! She’s a really good cook, much better than my Mom is. She don’t have color TV, though, like we do at our house. Sometimes at home Mom and Dad let me eat in the living room so I can watch my favorite shows. I never miss “Gilligan’s Island,” or “Rat Patrol,” “Lost In Space,” or even “Batman” that is on two nights in a row.
“And now we go back live to Walter Cronkite in Huston,” the man on the TV says. Hey, there’s that spaceship, that Apollo 11 one. Cool! I need to be closer to the TV. I’m so close now I can touch it, so I hope no body says anything to me.
Mom and Grandma are in here now with us. Mom sets by Dad and Grandma sets in her chair right behind me. I like setting there ‘cause I can see the TV and look out the front door too to see if anyone is coming. I think Grandma said something, but I don’t know ‘cause the man on the TV is saying, “The Eagle has landed. The Eagle has landed.” After that, I am no longer at Grandma’s, but on the Moon.
The spacemen in their white spacesuits are talking. There’s a ‘beep’ every time they say something. It’s hard to hear sometimes ‘cause it’s scratchy like the radio in the car sometimes.
“Beep!”
“Huston, this is Armstrong. I am leaving the craft. Over.”
“Beep!”
Oh, Boy! This is so cool! That spaceship has there legs! It’s round and looks like a big pumpkin with triangles for eyes. The spaceman is coming out now, walking funny down his latter. He looks pretty neat in his big white spacesuit with his helmet that has a big, dark bubble for his face.
“Beep!”
“That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”
“Beep!”
Now he’s on the Moon! This is so much cooler than “Dark Shadows” or even “Gumby” that I run fast as I can home from school to see. A man is really on the Moon for the very first time ever. Its’ gonna be cool to meet Martians and other space people from other planets.