No Dream Is Too High - Buzz Aldrin Page 0,54

come up with a zinger. For instance, one time Christina and I had just landed at the airport, coming home from Germany, when a reporter from TMZ asked me, “What did you think of that Felix Baumgartner leaping off the Red Bull hot-air balloon today?”

It was quite an impressive feat, as Baumgartner jumped from 24 miles high, an altitude of more than 100,000 feet, and reached airspeeds as high as 500 miles an hour, whisking downward, wearing only a space suit and helmet for protection and relying on a parachute to slow his fall once he reached 10,000 feet. Responding instinctively, I said, “That was one giant leap for Red Bull.” To me, that was a zinger, taking a serious subject and throwing in an absurdity.

Sometimes you just have to roll with it.

During a 2015 congressional hearing on America’s future in space, chaired by Texas senator Ted Cruz, I was giving a presentation, waxing quite eloquently on the potential of exploration, when I was interrupted by a cell phone ringing. I reached into my pocket and realized that the ringing cell phone was mine! I pulled out the phone and said, “Sorry,” as I turned off the phone.

Senator Cruz had a quick response. “Please tell us that is not a call from the space station.” We all had a laugh at my expense, and I carried on with my presentation. I’m usually a pretty good sport, even going on Sesame Street once to explain that the Moon is not made of cookie dough, so appearing at a Senate subcommittee hearing was a piece of cake!

How you respond to what life throws at you often makes all the difference. Smile. Laugh. Don’t take yourself so seriously. When you change, everything else around you changes.

Everywhere I travel, people tell me stories of where they were that day in 1969 when Neil and I walked on the Moon. They tell me about the incredible celebrations and parties in which they participated in honor of Apollo 11, and I get envious. I would have loved to have attended some of those parties, but Neil, Mike, and I were out of town!

Hey, that’s pretty funny!

And you thought astronauts were dull!

• CHAPTER TWELVE •

KEEP A YOUNG MIND-SET AT EVERY AGE.

You may get older chronologically, but you don’t have to grow an old-person mentality. Instead, maintain a youthful outlook—regardless of your age. Count your blessings, and enjoy every moment of life.

We all know that getting old is not for sissies. Sure, there are some things I just cannot do, or shouldn’t do, in my mid-80s that I did in my mid-20s. I’m getting older, but I don’t see myself as an old person, and I don’t think “old.” Instead, whenever someone asks me my age, I prefer to say, “I am 86 going on 40!”

One of the keys to having a young attitude is to surround yourself with younger people. I like having bright, ambitious, motivated young people around me. I enjoy their enthusiasm, and I am energized by their spirit. I embrace their technology rather than complaining that I cannot get the LED light to stop blinking on an appliance in my home.

Sure, there are times when I don’t act my age. Not long ago, Christina and I were having a disagreement. I was complaining about something and Christina responded, “Oh, Buzz, quit being a big baby.”

“I’m not a big baby,” I retorted. “I’m an old fart!”

“Okay, fine; quit being an old fart who is acting like a big baby,” Christina replied. Her response lightened the mood and we both broke out laughing.

Clearly, adulthood and maturity do not necessarily come with age. You can grow old but never grow up; growing older does not guarantee growing in maturity. You need someone around you who is honest and who cares enough to look you in the eye and say, “Straighten up! You’re not flying right.”

For years, that person in my life was my older sister, Fay Ann. She called me almost every day, and she held me accountable and seemed to know the right thing to say to me. She was always an encourager. Not that she was always easy on me—quite the contrary; she’d call things the way she saw them.

One day I was complaining to Fay Ann about pain in my elbow.

“What’s wrong with your elbow?” my sister asked.

“Oh, I’m really unhappy. I had surgery and I don’t think it was done right. I think this surgery was a failure. My arm still hurts.”

“When did