“Thanks, Colonel. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He squinted in the sun. “They’re not here yet?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Probably not going to show either.” I shrugged. “I don’t care.”
But I did. I really did.
I sat and listened to the director give his speech, droning on and on about how proud he was of us and how he wished us luck. Blah, blah, blah. Finally, we lined up and the director and William walked down the aisle, shaking hands with each of us and handing us the medallion that symbolized our completion of the program.
“Sergeant Serena Mills, United States Air Force, NASA pilot. Astronaut.”
My years of training had taught me to hide my emotions and not smile even though my cheeks were bursting to smile. I shook hands with the director.
“Welcome to NASA, Sergeant.”
”Tha
