MDBenson

As I watched the Florida coastline disappear from view as the BA flight I boarded not an hour earlier climbed into the clouds. At this time, with the early chapters of Mike Mulane’s ‘Riding Rockets’ echoing through my mind, it began to dawn on me exactly what the past just-over-a-week had been. One of the most interesting, exciting, mind expanding weeks of my life had just passed. A lump formed in my throat as I realised just how much I would miss the people I’d forged new levels of friendship and camaraderie with over the last 8 days, but then I remembered how we all met in the first place.

I get a lot of flack from people who don’t get Twitter for being on Twitter. Plenty of stock jokes about it being full of people tweeting when they go to the bathroom or what they had for breakfast… but over and above the usual jibes some many people genuinely think I’m wasting my time. I know I’m not and that’s what keeps me there, in spite of the background noise and Twitter’s occasional ‘quirks’. What I experienced in Florida re-affirmed that absolutely. Rarely in my life, outside a family gathering, have I received so many warm greetings, handshakes, hugs and outbursts of welcome and gratitude, both from people I shared a special bond with and also from people I didn’t necessarily expect it from. I can’t express in mere words how it feels to be appreciated by such a great cast of people. I mark myself as truly fortunate to share my life with so many amazing and varied personalities.

“But wait,” I hear you say, “you didn’t even get to see Space Shuttle Endeavour launch! You went all that way for nothing!” You couldn’t be more wrong if you’d just denied the presence of gravity. I went to the Space Coast for a gathering of people, great minds and great friends, centred around the possibility that we could all share the experience of watching Endeavour soar to the skies. In the event, Endeavour decided she wasn’t ready to take her last ride just yet. There will be time for Endeavour to launch later, and I’ll be watching on NASA TV like usual. It didn’t matter though. The people were there and that was the real show. A meet-up and BBQ party couldn’t contain the infectious enthusiasm of those present, in the end it ended up spreading out into 5 days of meet-ups and countless conversations.

Experiences like it are rare and wonderful. I’ll always cherish my memories from this trip and the friends I have made. If the chance ever presents itself to anyone reading this to meet  people like these then do it, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s worth it!