Stardate

Every morning growing up, my mom and I listened to NPR. When I was in elementary school, before she remarried, we lived in an apartment small enough that you could hear the radio in every room. As I got ready for school it was a race against the NPR programming because I knew that when Stardate came on, we had to go! Most mornings we raced to the finish as I finished breakfast, hunted for my backpack or furiously brushed my teeth to get out of the door before the astronomy report was done.

Still today, whenever I hear that familiar chime-like theme song, I feel a twinge phantom anxiety but then I remember, I'm not in school anymore...