A few days ago, when writing about Moldova, I called it “the country of my birth” but, in reality, this was only partially so. It was certainly the “land” of my birth, but definitely not “the country”. I was born in 1977, and back then the country was, of course, the USSR.
Why is this important to mention today? Because April 12 (today’s date) is a very special day for that country, and the world, as a whole, too. On this date, back in 1961, Yuri Gagarin, flew into the outer space as the first human to do this, and he returned back. Yes, I am positive that he was not 100% certain he would return, and his courage has been extremely inspiring to me since my early youth as I was growing up in the Soviet Union.
Speaking about the personal qualities that all astronauts seemed to embody Howard McCurdy wrote about bravery, honesty, love of their country, and family devotion. In addition to this, I believe that they were also extremely hard-working, persistent, and success-oriented. All of us have something to learn from them, and today is a good day to remind ourselves to do so.