Dianne Williams and Christine Haven

Mini-Reunion

March 2003

NASA   Houston, Texas

I met Dianne's flight at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and was anxious to see her but had some jitters as to whether I could recognize her after 37 years.  Of course I recognized her instantly and we hugged and cried to actually be seeing each other again.  Since our time was going to be so short I wanted to show her as much of Houston as possible so we headed straight to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, suitcases still in my truck.  The Rodeo in Houston is an annual event and it headlines major entertainers every night for three weeks straight in March.  There was a lot to see and do there, not to mention all our talking and reminiscing!

The next morning, March 1, we drove to Lufkin, Texas to see my sons and grandchildren who live there.  They loved Dianne (and thought she acted a lot like their 'mom')!  Lufkin, Texas is 105 miles north of Houston.  Lufkin is also the East Texas town that headquartered NASA and the FBI (and all the media who took up all hotel rooms), when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over that area just a few weeks prior to Dianne's visit. Late that night, we drove back to Houston and were so exhausted, but still talking.  You know you're exhausted when it's 4:00 AM and while waiting at a red light, you jerk and jump sky-high when a bright green flash lights up your windshield.  Well, we laughed the rest of the five miles home when we realized it was the light turning green.

The third day, Sunday, March 2, after about 3 hours sleep, we headed out to NASA.  It's about 20 minutes south of downtown Houston.  We took the tour, thanks for buying the tickets Dianne.  That's where we took the above picture and there's more pictures below.  

When we reached the airport for Dianne's return flight home, we sat and talked some more, but the visit was over much too soon.  We hugged each other goodbye, promised to see each other again, then kept waving "bye" to each other as she checked through the security gate.

I later learned that Dianne spent the next few hours in the passengers-only  area because we had talked too long before she went through Security that after she walked the 'country-mile' to her gate number, she had missed her plane.  It was a great mini-reunion!!!

  Christine and Dianne at son, Jesse's, house in Lufkin, Texas

  Christine and Dianne - Jesse's house.

  Dianne sitting at Christine's computer work station.

   Dianne at computer work station

  Dianne at NASA - Astronaut Suit

   Dianne at NASA

  Dianne pointing at the Columbia Crew on the Board of Official Photos of the NASA Crews