A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
When my son was six-years-old I was working on America’s Manned Space Program and at the time I thought it would be great fun for my son and I to build and launch model rockets. We purchased a couple of small basic models and put them together. We took them to the local school yard to fly them and we always drew a crowd of kids who wanted to watch and help us retrieve the spent rockets.
They flew very well and it was so much fun that we began to expand our new hobby by designing our own rockets and launching them. One day the launches were going great when the wind picked up and carried the parachute and rocket across the street into the nearby neighborhood where it landed in the front yard of one of the houses. As we were hurrying over to retrieve our rocket, a young boy came out of the house, picked up the rocket and ran back into the house. I was stunned! Did he not see us coming to get it? Did he think finders – keepers? Whatever he thought, it didn’t matter, it was our rocket and we wanted it back.
When I rang the doorbell, a man opened the door and asked how he could help us. I explained what had happened and told him we were there to claim our rocket. He said he didn’t know anything about any rocket, but would ask his son. Well, when confronted the boy admitted what he had done and the rocket was returned to us with an apology.
My son and I enjoyed many years of flying our model rockets, but after our “Stolen Rocket” adventure, we were very careful to launch our rockets only when there was no wind to carry them out of the schoolyard parameter.
Exodus 20:15
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Old Things R New 
What a heartwarming story! I wonder if the boy who stole the rocket learned anything from the incident. Too many times nowadays, the father would have said he didn’t know anything about it and slammed the door in your face. I’m especially pleased to read DiVoran’s comment that some of the rockets were saved and are displayed in your home.
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We still have many of the beautiful rockets they designed and painted standing tall and proud on a side table in a back room like true works of art, which they were.
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