A Deaf Lady and a Rocket Ship

A Story by ToddK

Sometimes, the entire world is focused on what is happening "over there". When you're with the ones you love, all that matters is what's happening "over here".

As I look back on my story from that day I laugh to myself. We were so country back in Wallace, Nebraska in those days. My grandma had been talking all week about a movie that was coming on TV. She went on and on about it and invited me, ONLY me, to come over and watch it with her. The movie was "The Miracle Worker", The Hellen Keller Story. Gram made popcorn and poured soda's for us. We were set. The movie started and I was immediately engrossed. The tale is a “B” section kind of story now, but back then...."she was born deaf AND blind and somehow figured out how to function in a seeing / speaking / hearing world? No way. Show me." Well, the movie was doing just that, showing me, and I was drinking in every second of it.

All at once this interruption came on about some guys on the moon or something. They went ON and ON about it. The movie would come back on then 15 minutes later, back to Mission Control or whatever. It went back and forth like that over and over again. We were so ticked! These wretched news people were ruining our movie!

It became one of, if not the THE biggest news story of the 20th century. Where was I on 7/20/69 when we landed a Man on the Moon for the very first time EVER? I was watching a Patty Duke movie with my grammy, that’s where I was. Nothing else in the universe mattered at that time on that night.

RIP Frona Kerchal