[epow]

But I can still see it vividly in my mind.

So can I.

I was driving across the Sunshine Skyway in FL when it happened. I was trying to see the launch, which is usually visible from the Skyway if the weather is clear, when I suddenly saw the burst of white smoke from the explosion and then a forked trail of smoke forming in the bright blue sky over 100 miles away.

I knew instantly that something awful had happened to the shuttle, and I quickly tuned the radio to a Tampa news station and heard the tragic news being reported from the cape.

I guess that's one of those things that will always stick in a person's mind.

[veronica]

I was getting ready to go out and the TV was on but I was out of the room. I heard the broadcast and it began to seep into my mind that the broadcaster was saying very strange things and when I walked into the TV room I could not believe what I was seeing. I watched the memorial on TV and as Nancy and the President walked up to the families and comforted them one by one I sobbed and sobbed. It was so sad...

[Guenevere]

I remember it well...

..Usually I run outside and watch the launches from my backyard...(I'm not far from KSC)

...that day it was cold and I thought...'oh well, I've seen them before'...and kept the TV on as I washed dished at my kitchen sink.

The rest is history...

..When I realized what happened from the TV, I rushed out and saw the weird jagged line of plume & smoke.

I also remember the night before....

..we were out at a restaurant, and I remember it being the coldest night I'd experienced since moving to Florida....it was numbing cold.....cold that cuts right through you!