January 28, 1986
I remember where I was when the Challenger exploded. I was on my way to school.
I was on the school bus, and my friend Shaula got on the bus and sat down in the seat and front of me and said, "Dude! Did you hear? The shuttle blew up!" I didn't believe her. I just said sarcastically, "Ha ha, real funny." She insisted it was true, but I refused to believe her until we got to school and I could see for myself that it was the truth. Not because I saw the video, that came later. But because the tragedy permeated the campus. See, one of the astronauts, Ellison Onizuka, was an alumni of my high school, Konawaena. More than that though, we all had seen him in person less than six months before, when he had come to talk to the students. I wish like hell I could remember what he said that day. But I think it was something about following your dreams. The day of the explosion moved in slow motion at my high school, everyone was crying, I felt like everything had become very surreal. I thought about my mom, and the day she told me about, the day she heard JFK had been killed. I thought perhaps this was similiar. Certainly not the same, but similar. In Hawaii, ohana (family) is very strong. And that day, we lost a member of our ohana. Christa, too, had ties in Kona. One of the teachers at my school, Mr. McAuliffe (I don't remember his first name), was her cousin. I had known Mr. McAuliffe since 1982, when he taught at Hawaii Prep. He had always been the funniest guy on the staff, always quick with a joke, always ready to make you laugh. That day, he didn't smile. That's when it really hit me, I think. That's when I finally cried.
 

Ellison Onizuka's Gravesite
Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery
Honolulu, Hawaii
Photo by Connie Nisinger