1969, Apollo on the Moon, and Grandma

In 1969 my family made a journey of several hundred miles to Grandma’s house. We did it two or three times a year and I always looked forward to going. But this time was to be extra special. We were making the trip to watch the Apollo moon landing on Grandma’s new color TV, the first one in the family.

As a boy of thirteen I, like a lot of other people, was Apollo crazy. I had followed every step of the way as new rockets were tested, new gadgets sent into orbit around earth and the moon. I had lots of rocket models, National Geographic maps of the moon, even my own space port with astronauts in spacesuits. I was hooked on the technological wonder of it all and thought that if something could be imagined it could be done if enough “Yankee ingenuity” was thrown at the problem.

My job on the morning of the moon landing was to sit next to Grandma and explain what was happening on the TV. She didn’t see well enough to get it all herself. After awhile of listening to me and Walter Cronkite talk about the mission, technology, and how cool the whole thing was the actual landing occurred. The famous Neil Armstrong line “One small step for Man, a giant leap for Mankind” came over the silent room of family and friends.

With that Grandma stood up and said, “Well, we can sure travel now. Let’s just don’t forget that it is God who guides our footsteps and God who brings us home.” She turned and walked out of the room, three quarters blind, stepping around all the furniture and people sitting on the floor. At the time I thought “What is wrong with her?”

Several months later, at the dreaded 7th grade confirmation class, the focus was on the story of Moses leading the people to the Promised Land. It is a story about God guiding footsteps and bringing people home. I called my Grandma and told her I understood what she meant and I still remember it. God will bring us home.

Dave Krumm

August 2006