Friday, August 31, 2012

Hometown love


The desire to be a movie star, rock star or any kind of star is every kids dream.  Not many children look at the moon and say that is my dream.  It was for one small town boy, his dream was to explore space and get to the moon.  I am sure this small town boy was told his dreams were to large and many probably wonder if the boy was crazy.  After all how in the world would someone from a town called Wapakoneta make it to space, let alone the moon?  But Neil Armstrong knew that his dreams were in fact big enough to happen.  He knew that if he could dream it, he could do it.  He did just that!

So why blog about Neil Armstrong? I didn't know him, never studied space and never had a desire to fly small planes like him.  I am blogging about Neil because he put my hometown on the map. Every conversation that started with "Where did you grow up?" Always ends up with "Wapakoneta, Home of Neil Armstrong the first man on the moon."

The picture above is the Neil Armstrong Air and Space museum, in Wapakoneta.  As a child, this museum was the place to go sledding, as it had the biggest hill that Wapakoneta had to offer. The place where you got astronaut ice cream and the place you could walk in a room full of stars.  As a child the museum was just a place to play, nothing more.  After all I wasn't alive when Neil stepped on the moon, it didn't feel so special any more with NASA sending astronauts there every year. 

That attitude about Neil and that museum changed when he passed away last week.  I never realized what a true symbol that little museum actually was to our small community, to the world for that matter.  Neil didn't come from money and he didn't come from a big town.  He came from a town where everyone knew his name, a town where children only dream big things.  He walked the same streets as me, played in the same parks and called Wapakoneta his home. 

You see, Neil is no different than me.  He was given a choice to live his life making his dreams happen or continue wishing his dreams come true.  Neil didn't think his mission was impossible because he only believed in the possibilities of it all.  I live my life just like Neil, I believe in the possibilities and the million reason why I can, instead of can't.

We can all learn a lot of Neil Armstrong's story.  He had the courage to take the step in achieving great things.  He took a leap not just for himself but for the world.  Thanks Neil, for showing us that no matter how small your town is you can live a life as you want it.  Thanks for reminding me that I can do something amazing with my life, that no dream is impossible. 

I will wink at the moon just for you, I hope someday you will wink back.

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