35 years ago I was two months short of 19, a waiter at a lodge in Haliburton, Ontario. After lunch, I borrowed Mrs. Johnson's old TV set and set it up in the lounge of the main building. Mrs. J could get two channels with her TV tower, but without an antenna I couldn't get a picture. I found some lamp wire and ran it up to the curtain rod. Out of the TV came a lot of static, some sound, no picture. But I heard it: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

I could hardly wait for dinner to end. After serving, we helped dry dishes and set up our tables for the morning. Then I was back to tinkering with the TV. I got a picture by running the antenna wire through the window and attaching it to the eaves trough. As the sky darkened, reception improved, and word went out to the guests to come to the lounge. As people gathered, about half of them Americans, the excitement rose.

To this day I will always remember watching Neil Armstrong descend that ladder.

The next day I went to town and bought the Toronto papers. Each semester, at the end of the astronomy unit in grade 9 science, I bring my originals to class to show the students. I try to make them feel the wonder I felt when I looked up at the moon and realised that there were men up there, walking around.