Walter Cronkite

For me, Walter will always be that man who gave the moon its due, and the man my Aunt Kitty had a crush on. I remember it all so well. We were kids at my family's Jersey shore beach house, and my sister and I were lying on our stomachs in front of the TV, tracking the summer ants through the sisal carpeting which was incredibly scratchy. We named them all Howard, my father's real name which he never used. He was mad at us. Then Walter Cronkite came on, and started talking about the moon finally getting its due, since the sun had always hogged the show. I thought, Finally! My moon, my muse, is right outside now, getting stepped on by clumsy boots, and how sad, how stunning. Walter didn't land on the moon himself, but he should have because he GOT it. Then the Good Humor truck rang its bells outside and for the first time, my sister and I didn't run out. Who needed ice cream on that day, of all days?