Sad Loss

Today I heard some news that hit my heart hard....
Sadly Neil Armstrong aged 82, (5th Aug 1930 - 25th Aug 2012) the first man onto the moon, had lost his fight against heart trouble. He had died following complications to heart surgery he had a few weeks ago.

I actually had grief for someone I don't know.

However in a small way I do know him. Or at least I know about him. I have taken an interest in him.
You see back in 1986 my parents moved to America and why to this day I will never understand, we ended up living in a small city in North West Ohio called Wapakoneta (pronounced Wapa kon eta) also known as Wapak.

It is a small city, pop of just over 9000, located on I75 at junction 111.
Its main claim to fame..........it is the birth place of Neil Armstrong. It is where he was born on 5th August 1930.
When we lived there in 1986, his parents were both still alive and they lived on the renamed street of Neil Armstrong Drive and they were lovely people, I know I met them.
Well more like I spent sometime with them holding a hosepipe over a ladder whilst people ran the marathon around the town that was part of the annual Race to The Moon.
We held a hosepipe up because the summers in Wapak are hot.
Just today I checked with the local paper and they were in the 90's (about 32c for all of us) so yes hot, but then in the winter they get cold cold and have snow, so from one extreme to another.

It is a small Indian city, where when we lived there I felt time had forgotten it.
Lima is the closest large place and was the place to go for civilisation!
Although you could survive very nicely without ever leaving Wapak.
Kids in typical fashion would complain about the size of Wapak and the lack of up to date activities however many seem to fall back there to live and raise their own families, so it can't be all that bad a place to be.

I have lived in many places during my life and of all the places I have lived, Wapak is the place I left my heart.

So to all my friends in Wapakoneta, Ohio, you are in my thoughts and prayers, as you go through this sad time.
And to everyone else, the next time you see the moon at night, look at it with love in your heart and show a smile or wink for Neil Armstrong, the man who made history but to this day felt he never did anything special apart from just doing his job.

God bless you Neil Armstrong, you will be sadly missed