Maybe it's the geek in me, but that was very intense! I grew up in Florida and never got to see a lift off. I am certain if I'd gotten a chance like Timothy got, I would have taken it. And I have no doubts whatsoever that it would have felt exactly like you described it.

I actually twigged to the event they were going to see kind of early, was chuffed to find my intuition was on target. But all that fell away once they arrived. The building momentum of getting closer to the creature that fires folk's imagination; every detail felt perfect, as if related after first hand experience. Meeting the cougar with the mission lapel pin, yeah; that was awesome.

And the countdown. Such a long, drawn out description of a handful of seconds could have easily gotten distracting. You got it exactly right. Every second of that final stretch must be its own eternity in the mind of everyone within sight of her.

Lastly, the emotional release... you got me. I had to dry my eyes as much as Timothy and the visiting astronaut. Without getting preachy or overwrought you reminded me exactly why such moments in our history are golden, priceless. Understated yet potent. This is honestly some of the best writing I've seen you do.

Of course I grew up watching Star Trek TOS in reruns so I might be a little biased.

Thank you for a good dose of excitement. It was just what I needed.

Huge sigh of relief...

Yeah, in doing this I knew I was either going to be spot on or miss by miles. Of course the true test is how it holds up against the real experience. That, is something I really want to know.

By the way, those final seconds, they just, I couldn't make my fingers fly fast enough. That is in large part why I didn't want to edit anything. It felt like I had nailed it, was getting it perfect even as it was coming out of me. So as a writer, its my baby and I don't want to change a thing about it. Its like a double stamped coin, highly sought after and beautiful because of its imperfections.

Yeah, so what if I'm especially proud of this one, this one's more than worth it to us geeks that grew up on Star Trek and got up early to watch that first time she took flight from the back of a 747, just to see if she could fly. Okay, let me step down from the soap box a moment.

There, and thanks for the expansive comments, really means a lot after investing so much of myself in this one. I'll send Vixyy over for the hug, since I'm more a handshake person.

what Wirewolf said!

V.

I have only seen the launch from a distance, once when standing on a jet way at MIA in the early evening and once while driving home and it streaked up the sky like a roman candle.

I could never ever understand why the government (Thank you Mr. Obama.) chose to shut down NASA the way they did. It was the one truly good thing we American's were really really good at.

This was a really good story my good kitty cat... It is so wonderful to be on fire like that in the writing.

V.

"It is so wonderful to be on fire like that in the writing." Yes, yes it is.

Thanks. I'd really like to say more but then I'd just be repeating myself from above.

*smiles very big...

V.

I hear you on that... the wonderful thing about the program - and this takes me back to when I was a pup in 4th grade listening to Shepherd blast off through the ears of a fellow classmate listening to it on the single earpiece of his rocket shaped crystal radio set he'd grounded to the classrooms heat radiator - and the whole nation was on fire for getting there.

Go Space-X!

V.

Now, I wish I'd thought of that. Would have added a bit of tension wondering if the launch would be scrubbed due to bad weather.