I nearly missed the significance of today’s date. July 20th.

July 20th, 1969. I was thirteen and at summer camp — Camp Sandy Hill in Northeast, Md. on the Chesapeake Bay. (In 1976 I would work there as a counselor). There were no TVs at camp, at least not for the campers. But on this day they made an exception.

Lights out was around 9:00 pm every night. For this historic night everyone in camp, except the seven and eight year olds, was still awake. I remember they served us hot chocolate in styrofoam cups and popcorn in white paper bags. Two television sets were in the front of the Lodge. Small black and white sets with rabbit ears. We sang camp songs, ate our snacks, and then came the words, “hands up!”

“Hands Up” was our cue to quiet down. “When the hands go up, the mouth goes shut”, was our standing instruction. I hadn’t really thought about that until just now. The room got quiet and one of the Chiefs (as all the counselors were called) said something I don’t remember.

Thirty seven years later I still remember sitting on a wooden bench on the right side of the Lodge, about 5-10 rows from the front. Then — we watched history.

We sat and watched as Neil Armstong reached the bottom of the ladder on the LM. Then we heard the famous words, “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”

I remember sitting there for a while longer, watching Buzz Aldrin join Armstrong on the surface of the moon. We didn’t watch the entire broadcast. A few minutes later we were sent to our cabins for the night.

I’m quite sure that Armstrong’s words didn’t make the impression then that they did in later years, but I do remember being almost overwhelmed by the history of the moment. Even at thirteen I remember thinking that at that moment the world had changed. I’m not sure I knew why it was different, or what had changed, but I knew that something had.

Thanks to Beth for the reminder. Go by and take a look at the videos she’s posted.