Originally written in April of 2002 on DaveDorm:

I know, talking about my uncle Ron’s death may be growing tired, but I need to work through this. He and I were especially close. At times, I was closer to Ron than I was my father. I am trying to remember happier times with Ron, some from childhood, some from adulthood. Here is one from the good old days.

I remember in the summer of 1976, I was 8, we went to Kennedy Space Center for a tour of the place. They were having a special Bicentennial celebration. There were exhibits and attractions all over the place. All sorts of space stuff, scientific displays, and hands on panels with switches and doo-hickeys to play with.

Remember, this was before the space shuttle was operational. Saturn 5 rockets were the top technology at the time. We saw one, laying in display on its side. It was huge. We got to sit inside a real command module from the Apollo, and the Gemini capsule, too.

I felt like such a big guy, making a cross state journey with Uncle Ronny. Not Mom. Not Dad. Just us men. On the road. (Jack Keroac would be another tale)

I remember we made the trip on the cheap. We stayed in a really ratty motel in Titusville and got our meals from the Publix just up the street. We turned down the sheets on one of the beds, and stamped in big bold black letters on the corner of the top sheet was the word “REJECTED”. Now we weren’t sure who rejected the sheets, or why, but we laughed and laughed. Some crappy motel we chose, couldn’t even buy new sheets.

See? A happy moment… Thanks Ron