By Jeff Lipton
But for Rosenfeld, the feelings of grief were deeply personal. Her family had become friends with one of the astronauts who perished, Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli in space.
When he moved to Houston more than four years ago to train at the Johnson Space Center for his first space flight, Ramon became friends with Rosenfeld's daughter, Shelly Barzilay, her husband and four children. They met at a Jewish Community Center in Houston and often shared the Jewish holidays of Passover and Rosh Hashanah together. Barzilay has lived in Houston for about 20 years.
They got to be very good friends, and they shared the holidays together, said Rosenfeld, who moved from Israel to North Woodmere about 25 years ago. I used to go back and forth to Houston, and I saw Ilan all the time. He was the nicest guy you can think of. He was very down-to-earth, very polite, very humble.
Barzilay and her family and Rosenfeld and her family Ñ husband Sol, son Modi and her two grandchildren from East Rockaway, 8-year-old twins Jared and Kellie Marnin Ñ were at Florida's Cape Canaveral, as guests of Ramon, when the shuttle was launched on Jan. 16. They were guests at a huge reception of about 300 people at the Kennedy Space Center the day before the launch. Over the past few years, the twins had spent some time playing video games with Ramon's youngest sons and listening to tales about their life in Israel and how the space mission had brought them to the United States.
At the launch site, spectators waved Israeli flags, sang and cheered as Ramon boarded the shuttle. Kellie and Jared returned to Long Island with lots of souvenirs and the excitement that only witnessing such an event can evoke. They shared their mementos and memories with their third-grade classmates at Waverly Park School and awaited the safe return of their friend.
Rosenfeld said Columbia's liftoff was awe-inspiring, one of the most amazing things she has ever witnessed. It's amazing to see it in person, she said. She followed the 16-day mission and was watching intently on television on Feb. 1 when TV reports indicated that flight controllers had lost contact with the shuttle.
I couldn't believe it was happening, Rosenfeld said. It was a shock. I started to be sick in my heart. We were all just in Florida and now the shuttle exploded.
Rosenfeld said that when she saw the launch, she thought to herself, It was perfect. Obviously, she says now, it wasn't so perfect.
Rosenfeld said that Ramon had looked forward to the space flight very much, and when TV broadcasts showed the shuttle crew in space, He looked like he was having the best time of his life.
He was very happy up there in space, she said. He loved what he was doing. And it was a big deal for Israel.
Ramon, a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force and the father of four, was a hero in Israel even before he became the country's first astronaut. Rosenfeld said she watched the memorial service on Feb. 5, and imagined that Ramon's wife, Rona, and their children would bravely face the future.
[Rona] is very strong, Rosenfeld said. She's surrounded by a lot of people who came from Israel to be with her.
But, Rosenfeld added, It is hard to get over.
Karen Barone contributed to this story.
