Let's Go To the Moon!

I have a mountain of memorabilia that will most likely have no place to go when I'm gone.?It includes my academic and professional awards and credentials, my past journal entries, souvenirs of places and events, pictures and quotations I've found beautiful or inspiring, along with at least seven generations of family photographs.??

I remember walking past some older homes on a residential street leading to a factory I worked at (near the railroad tracks at the end) when I was a young teen (over 50 years ago). I noticed a small green metal box with a lid and a latch closure sitting on top of a waste can at the curb, waiting for trash pick-up, in front of one of the houses along my way.?Always curious, I couldn't resist opening the box.?Inside, I was surprised to find military metals, a folded army hat, a driver's license, a social security card, and photographs taken of men in uniform during their service together... one of whom had been the owner of the treasures in that little green box.?It seemed wrong for it to be sitting in the trash... like a meaningful life being thrown away... seemingly without enough value to be kept and, by extrapolation, as though the life of service that led to it existing... had no value.?

I retrieved and carried the little box back up to the house it had been in front of and knocked on the door.?The young man who opened the door saw the box in my hands, seemed slightly annoyed, and warily asked me what I wanted.?I explained that the items in the box seemed like they were very important and should be passed on to somebody's family or to somebody that would understand the historical value of the contents.?He explained that the man the box had belonged to left the world with no family nor friends and that he did not find the contents of value for himself.?After a brief bit of additional conversation, I asked if I could keep it and he told me I could.?

Later, I reached out to the US Army and then to several veteran's organizations to see if the box and contents might be of value to them.?They assured me they were not.?It was painfully sad.?Evidence of a life of service, friendships in tough situations, and sacrifice, recorded, but unappreciated.?I really didn't know what to do with the box and contents after that so, after holding on to it for about a decade, hoping I would figure out something more honorable to do with it, with a heavy heart, it was ultimately disposed of (along with many of my own things... when I moved into a smaller space with my fiancé).

Now... I am sitting and pondering my own personal memorabilia and wondering what to do with it.?All of my family's photos.?All of the treasured reminders of my own special moments. All of the evidence of achievements that have brought me pride and joy along my life's path... along the adventure of my career in quality assurance and regulatory affairs. Pretty pictures of interesting or beautiful relationships and places.?Meaningful things... but perhaps only meaningful to me.??I have a much larger treasure trove of items than were in that little green box... but... that could also end up being unceremoniously disposed of. Then again.... maybe I can create some ceremony.

I got to thinking about all of the stories I've been reading in social media lately.?Social media, if nothing else, has become a place to share our stories.?Which stories may matter to others... I suppose only time will tell.??I know that I've been very happy to read many of the stories others have shared. Perhaps some of you would enjoy some of my stories. Why not?

So, along with sharing our stories... .there is also the possibility that social media could become a repository for images that preserve and bring our pasts more to life.?There has probably never before existed such a vast opportunity to preserve our stories and images.?

I've heard that things posted on the internet last there forever.?I don't think that is true... but our posts could certainly last longer than we do.?Or, at least, until the servers our stories are stored on are no longer functional and/or the content is deemed of insufficient value to be migrated to new platforms as technology evolves.??My late beau's Facebook page is still functional, for example. Sometimes I go there to remember the good times we shared and to remind myself of what a joyful spirit he was while we shared this existence, this reality.

Anyway, I thought it might bring me a bit of joy to share some of my memorabilia with you... and to explain how each thing has impacted my life choices leading to or during my career as a scientist, an engineer and as a passionate advocate for quality and integrity in all things.

Here is my first such post.

The image below is of me and my mother in the late 1950's.?Some of you may have seen this image before. I believe I was about 3 years old.?It was spring and I was wearing an Easter dress my mother had sewn for me.?My grandmother usually made a spring gift of my shoes, socks, gloves and bonnet.?That is her sitting in a metal tub on a hot day in the header of this post. The photo below was taken in Woodland Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles in Southern California.?My grandmother's and grandfather's home was there and the telescope I'm sitting on, with my mother looking on, was my grandfather's.?

Grandpop was not very well educated.?He had dropped out of school in about the 3rd grade to help in his family's business... which was a candy store.?He went on to become a U.S. Marine, though.?When he returned from his service, he became a union technician for the U.S. space program... working for North American Aviation... which later became Atomics International... and then became Rocketdyne... a manufacturer of rocket engines for the the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, among others.??The black and white photo of a man next to that of my grandmother in the header for this article is of my grandfather, when he worked at the rocket factory. I still have all of his service pins from the company.

Grandpop belonged to an amateur astronomers club through work and he would let me tag along to meetings where he gently taught me about telescopes, the stars and rockets.?Yes.... I was still sort of a toddler... but that is when it really began.... my fascination with science and engineering... with the stars... and with my place in the vastness of space.... and on this planet.?That was probably when I knew... as did my mother, my grandfather, and just about everybody I encountered... that I wanted to be part of something much greater than myself.?That was possibly when I decided I had something to contribute that would be of value for the future of our planet and our race.?I most likely knew there would be no end to this grand adventure... only phase changes.?I felt happy.... and driven.?My mother said I was "unstoppable"... but she was always there to urge me along and to pick me up when I fell... with a constant stream of encouraging glances and touches.

Can you hear me saying, in this photo, "Let's go to the MOON!"?

This story was written by Diane G. Kulisek on 14 April 2022.

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