It Started with Dad’s Six-Cent Stamp

illustration by Viktor Miller-Gausa

Dale Mason
Publisher

It was 1968, and my dad’s insurance office was attached to our home. That was convenient for me as a seven-year-old because Dad had a ready supply of envelopes and six-cent stamps—the cost of a first-class letter.

That year, there was tremendous excitement about the space race. How I dreamed of walking on the moon! At school The Weekly Reader kept me informed about it. At home I often joined Dad in the living room to watch the evening news. Dad was deeply concerned about the soldiers in Vietnam, and I was mesmerized by the Apollo missions.

On one of those evenings, I took a piece of notebook paper and sat in Dad’s big office chair. I wrote out a simple letter and addressed an envelope to “The Place Where They Launch the Rockets.” That’s it, no city, state, or zip.

After I licked one of dad’s six-cent stamps and stuck it on the front, I walked my little letter to the big corner mailbox. Somehow, I soon received a huge yellow envelope from NASA with a photo of three astronauts and information about their coming mission. I had some explaining to do to Dad and Mom, but they smiled and gave me permission to keep using those six-cent stamps. Over the next couple years, I received scores of yellow envelopes, each one stuffed with excitement. One day I even received a personal letter from the first American in space, Alan Shepard, signed by the legend himself.

After the moon landings ended, I eventually became more interested in girls and cars. So when Mom was setting out items for a yard sale, I considered my box of “space stuff” and ultimately placed it on a table.

A librarian from a nearby school was delighted by the $5 deal, but I’ve regretted selling it many times over.

Now with children and grandchildren of my own, I understand more about the things that matter most. My “priceless” records of America’s moon missions were likely turned to ashes years ago. But as I read astronaut Barry Wilmore’s article (on page 44), commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, I was reminded of all this and filled with thanks that God’s written record is not fleeting. Though it’s amazing what a boy can dream up and what humans can do, the Bible reveals the plans and works of God—who created the moon!