This article about the Columbia Tragedy was first published on the Site Busy Parents On-line


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Today was not much different from most days, 3 kids and a Husband all wanted my attention, and only one of me to go around. Messages and IM are the lifeblood of my Company, as we are currently global, and phone calls are cost prohibitive in most cases. Periodically I check my e-mail throughout the day.

For some reason I left my e-mail program running and checked it frequently. I skimmed the subject lines with each download, and just after 10:30 this morning there was one subject line that stood out to me. I read the message and my Heart stopped.

We lost Columbia. My first thought was, “Not Again”. I remember Challenger and how I felt when she exploded during her launch in 1986. The tragedy, the shock, the loss of life and how it affected me, a Florida High School Student.

Having visited Huntsville and Cape Canaveral several times, I knew the possibility of Shuttles breaking up on reentry. On one of my Visits to Cape Canaveral, I got to see Columbia in person. Granted she was a good ways off, but it was still her that came in for a landing. I remember her sonic boom, how it heralded her arrival and shook the car on which I sat. She was a shiny spot in the sky when I first spotted her. I pointed her out so others could watch her too as she approached for landing. The cheers and pride in that parking lot that day are forever etched in my mind and Heart.

It is that memory that tears at my heartstrings. The majestic Bird I had cheered so many years ago is no more. So, I cried.

My kind-hearted eight-year-old daughter noticed the tears streaming down my face today and asked what was wrong. I took her aside and told her about the events of the day. She asked first if anyone in our family was on board, and I answered no. Then she asked about the families of the Astronauts.

How a child of eight has such compassion, I don’t know. But that she has it, I find extremely heartening and comforting at times like this. It is strange. Mothers are supposed to comfort children, yet in time of senseless loss, the children often comfort us.



Jodi Michele Parker is a mother of four. She first became published in High School when some of her poetry was accepted for the literary magazine that the school produced. She also won an award for her one act play submitted to ITS. While in Denmark, she was a Foreign Correspondent for her High School paper. She also was a columnist for a Faith Based News Letter and Edited for JumpBean Publications.

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