[meteorite-list] Columbia Disaster and more tragedy (Off-Topic)

From: starharvest_at_attbi.com <starharvest_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:18:24 2004
Message-ID: <20030204083531.868A0535A2_at_pairlist.net>

ABSOLUTELY! I AM HONORED ...and for once..without words! You have my express
permission. Rand.
> Hello All!
>
> When Rand vented his feelings about astronaut Kalpana Chawla's last
> words to the media, I did not know that I would soon remember his very
> words. Most of you will know that I am a teacher. Late in the afternoon,
> I had just returned from a funeral ceremony, I got a call from a teacher
> collegue who told me that one of our pupils, just 12 years young, had
> committed suicide by jumping from the second story of the school
> building. Tomorrow morning at 07:15 hrs our time, we will be given some
> important information by the principal and the school psychologist
> before we meet our students, many of whom had to witness this young life
> dying on the ground floor. What will I tell them, what will they ask,
> how will they feel? Before this tragic event, I had planned to talk to
> them and discuss the Columbia disaster. I would like to do both ... and
> this is why I remembered Rand's words. They can help bridge the gap
> between both these saddening human catastrophes.
>
> What I would like to beg of you, Rand, is the permission to copy your
> words along with my German translation (which you also find attached for
> the German-speaking List Members) to use as a sort of "stimulus" to
> start a conversation about both the loss of this young life and about
> the loss of the Columbia crew. RSVP
>
> Now, here is once more part of Rand's contribution:
>
> In Kalpana Chawla's last words to the media, she described one of her
> "big WOWs" of being an astronaut. She told about sitting next to a
> window of the space shuttle while looking down at our wonderful blue
> planet and its swirling firmament of clouds. Refocusing, she then saw
> her own reflection in the shuttle window. Refocusing again, she saw the
> reflection of the earth in her own eyes. "This," she said, " was
> definitely a big WOW." ... The beautiful dark eyes of Kalpana no longer
> exist, but I can't help believing that the memory of her "big WOW" is
> somehow remembered in a plane of existence beyond my comprehension.
> Yet I continue to try to understand, and as I do, a feeling for humanity
> floods over me which I can only describe as ... love.
>
> In Kalpana Chawlas letzten Worten an die Medien beschrieb sie einen
> ihrer schönsten Momente als Astronautin. Sie erzählte davon, wie sie
> ganz nahe an einem Fenster des Raumgleiters saß, während sie
> hinunterschaute auf unseren wundervollen, blauen Planeten und auf sein
> sich stetig veränderndes Wolkenfirmament. Als sie dann ihren zur Erde
> hinabschweifenden Blick wieder auf das Shuttle-Fenster richtete,
> erblickte sie darin ihr eigenes Spiegelbild. Noch einmal richtete sie
> gezielt ihren Blick auf das Fenster des Raumgleiters und sah nun das
> Spiegelbild der Erde in ihren eigenen Augen. "Dies", so sagte sie, war
> defintiv das Allergrößte." ... Die schönen, dunklen Augen Kalpanas gibt
> es nicht mehr, aber ich möchte einfach glauben, daß die Erinnerung an
> dieses, ihr zuteil gewordenes "großartiges Erlebnis" letztendlich
> irgendwie auf einer Bewußtseinsebene erinnerlich sein wird, die jenseits
> meines Fassungsvermögens liegt. Und dennoch versuche ich weiterhin, zu
> verstehen, zu begreifen, und dabei durchflutet mich ein Hochgefühl für
> unsere Menschheit, die ich nur beschreiben kann als ... Liebe.
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Tue 04 Feb 2003 03:35:30 AM PST