In Space, No One Can Hear The Truth

(My grandfather was a NASA astronaut. You probably don’t believe me, but I’m used to that. I am in the fourth grade. My teacher tells the class that our current subject in science will be space. The teacher pins a big piece of paper on the wall, opens up a marker, and asks the class to raise their hands and tell her what they know about outer space.)

Student #1: “Mars is Red!”

Student #2: “Stars are pretty!”

Student #3: “I can see the moon at night!”

Teacher: “Okay, [My Name], what do you know about outer space?”

Me: “My grandpa was an astronaut!”

(She looks at me, tilts her head, and rolls her eyes.)

Teacher: “Okay. [My Name]’s grandpa was an astronaut.”

(She sarcastically writes my addition on the piece of paper, looks back to me with a smug look, and moves on to other students. I didn’t know it at that time, but she didn’t believe me. But looking back on it, I don’t really blame her. Would you believe a fourth grader that said his grandpa was an astronaut? A few weeks later, the teacher across the hall comes to our class to chat with my teacher and notices that we are talking about space. She was my older brother’s fourth grade teacher two years earlier. When my brother was in fourth grade, Grandpa actually came to school to talk to his class and left them a book. Needless to say, the subject came up.)

Other Teacher: “You know it’s kind of funny that you’re talking about space and you have ‘him’ in your class.”

(My teacher is confused for a moment and asks why it is so funny. The other teacher then explains that my grandpa really was an astronaut, came to her class two years ago, and left an autographed book. She goes to her class to get the book to show it to her, and my teacher is stunned.)

Teacher: “That’s amazing! Why didn’t you tell me that?”

Me: “I did! Remember when I told you and you wrote it on the big piece of paper?”

(I can still remember the look of shock and surprise as my teacher came to the realization that I was telling the truth.)