LIFE IS A RIDE

     It’s hard to imagine that January is almost behind us and that we’ve already used up twenty-eight days of this fresh, new year.  I am sure I’m not the only person lamenting over things not done yet as promised, unfinished projects and missed opportunities.  Here we are already beating ourselves up for being lazy, worthless human beings.  Can you imagine our guilt level a few months from now?  We should listen to the mental health gurus who tell us to “not sweat the small stuff.”  Life is indeed too short.

            On January 28, 1958, Charles Starkweather and his fourteen year old girlfriend, Caril Ann, killed a Lincoln, Nebraska businessman, his wife and his maid.  This was just part of a ten day killing spree that would eventually leave ten people dead, including Caril Ann’s mother, step-father and two and a half year old sister.  Their last victim was killed January 29th and the couple was caught that same day. The nineteen year old Starkweather, who idolized James Dean’s persona as a lone rebel, was convicted of murder and sent to the electric chair the following year.  Caril Ann was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in 1976. 

            A tragedy occurred on this date in 1986 that was seen live by millions of people, many of them children, due to the fact that one of the participants was a teacher.  The space shuttle Challenger exploded only seventy-three seconds after liftoff, resulting in the deaths of all seven astronauts.  Engineers warned that the cold temperatures that day could have adverse effect on some of the shuttle’s equipment but evidently, their warnings went unheeded and the shuttle took off at 11:39 am.  The O-ring seal, which had become brittle from the cold temperatures, failed.  Flames broke out and damaged the fuel tank.  The shuttle broke apart, plummeting into the ocean.  It is suggested that some of the astronauts were still alive until the shuttle impacted the water.  Some of the wreckage has yet to be recovered.  Two large pieces of the shuttle were found floating off Cocoa Beach, Florida, almost eleven years later.  The “Challenger flag,” sponsored by Boy Scout Troop 514 of Monument, Colorado, was recovered, still sealed in its plastic container.

            President Reagan spoke at a memorial service three days later and said:

“Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short.  But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain.”

            One year earlier, in 1985, over twenty million copies of the single “We Are the World” were sold.  Between the vinyl and the associated merchandise, sixty-three million dollars for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US was raised.   The idea was conceived by singer/activist Harry Belafonte who brought together some of the most talented musicians of the day.  Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie worked together, composing the song over the course of four months.  On January 28^th.the final recording session was held at A & M Recording Studios in Hollywood.  Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross were some of the forty-five participants in this heavily guarded night of song.  Stevie Wonder warned them all that if this session couldn’t be done in one take, he and Ray Charles would drive them all home.  Singing commenced around 10:30 pm.  The rest is history.

            Maybe I’ve not gotten done what I intended to so far this year.  I’m falling short on my goal for the day, as a matter of fact.  Don’t beat yourself up too much.  Life is a ride and you just don’t know where it’s going to take you and where it’s going to let you off.  Just do what you can do and don’t sweat the rest.

 Sharon