The Recent Champs: Meeting the First Man to Orbit the Moon, Apollo 8 & 13 Astronaut Jim Lovell

Well I woke up bright and early today, excited for the chance to meet Jim Lovell. We left our hotel and I took Brock to work. On the way I called Jim’s assistant, Mary, to confirm if he would be at the restaurant (we were meeting at his families restaurant “Lovell’s of Lake Forest”). She said she had talked to him and said, “Jim, Natalee is coming today.” And he said, he’d be sure to stay for me. (Eeeek!)

So Blakely and I drove the 90 minutes of cornfields and beautiful Illinois countryside to the restaurant.

When we pulled in, my heart was so excited! I had been running over and over through my head what I might ask, say or do. Every scene in my head ended with us becoming livelong friends, exchanging Christmas cards every year and him comping my lunch (or me giving him a Book or Mormon).

I realized that I may have been slightly overestimating the visit (just like I did with Nathan Fillion… because I had logically found myself being offered a position to be his personal assistant. Just think where I could be now…!) so I decided I needed to scale back the reigns on my imagination.

I wanted every second of my time with him to be on video so I could just replay it for myself, and to one day show my grandkids. Well, Blakely and I took a selfie with the restaurant sign and walked in. The hostess welcomed us and I told her we were here to see Captain Lovell. She said, “Oh you must be the girl he’s waiting for”. Um… yes. Yes I am. (Not sure why Mulan’s “A Girl Worth Fighting For” song comes to mind….)

So she took us to our seats and then Blakely and I went downstairs to the restroom (It was a 3-story + basement building). Um. Ok, how was I supposed to get to the bathroom without taking a picture of every single picture hung on the wall!! It was like one after the other of awesomeness. Well we made it to the bathroom, changed Blakely’s diaper then went outside. I wanted to sneak in a few pictures before anyone caught me so I snapped on that is right outside the bathroom:

Well as soon as the shutter clicked I heard a, “oh she must be down here”.

As I quickly threw my camera back in the bag, and stepped around the corner I saw him. First thing he said to me was, “Well we came to you!” I was ear to ear grinning and so excited. He was with his assistant (Mary), and he walked us into the “Captains Quarters” room which was right next to where we were standing. The Captains Quarters is basically a more private room with a handful of banquet tables set up next to the bookshelves full of his memorabilia. I WISH I could have had that part on video so I could remember everything, but this is what I do remember.

He showed me the wine that belonged to his son, saying it never flew in space (there were lots of autographs all over it). Then he pointed to some model planes and said that some of them flew with him into space. He pointed out his awards and honors/medals he had won (one from President Bill Clinton). He showed me the Chicago Tribune from when Apollo 13 first launched. The “Apollo Way” street sign that was up in New York during the Apollo years.

He showed me a piece of the heat shield, THE heat shield from Apollo 13. He also had a fragment of the heat shield from Gemini 7. Um, there was also a MOON ROCK!!! (Yes, I did think about how much trouble I’d get in if a stole it, and I didn’t steal it. Neither should you.) There were a few mission patches, including his from Apollo 13, a letter written to him from a princess, more model rocks, model of this Apollo 13 command module (CM) and lunar excursion module (LEM). I told him I had models of the same thing at my house. He also had him Emmy (Oscar?) from the movie Apollo 13.

Then he pointed over to the fire mantle across the room, next to the leather couches, and showed me two awards he had one. The first (I can’t remember it now, but I made a video of it and read the plaque) he said was a mini version of the real one and the real one is on display. The other award was presented to him as the first person to ever orbit the moon. GUYS. I have met the first HUMAN to ever orbit the MOON. Wow. This was such a great day.

So then we went upstairs and he showed me the mural that is above the bar area. It’s this one:

He told me about how the painting resided in a nice hotel, and while they were filming the movie in 1994 it happened to show up in an auction at Santa Monica. He said he told “Tom” (Tom Hanks… first name basis! Hope I get to meet Tom Hanks one day) about it and Tom sent his wife (Rita Wilson) to go purchase it. The Hanks’ stored it till the Lovell’s opened the restaurant and now that is where it lives. I remember asking him a few questions while we were talking in front of the bar, but I just can’t seem to remember them. I did tell him how ever since I was little I wanted to be the first woman to walk on the moon, and he had a great big smile on his face when I said that… like it was cool. Haha, then I told him that I wish my dad was here with me because we were both avid space/Apollo fans. I told him a better shake his hand for my dad, so I did.

(Also remember being completely mesmerized by him while he was talking, like in shock and awe of who I was talking to… I must have been standing fairly close to him because I also realized that is breath smelled like coffee. Ha).

He motioned to Mary to take a few pictures so we did:

Video of the "Captains Chambers" at the restaurant... where all of his memorabilia is currently (everything left other than what he donated to museums/etc). http://youtu.be/yiB5b_fQ_iQ

Well you know how people start to wrap up a conversation? Well as soon as he started doing that I said, “Hey do you think it would be possible if we sat down and I asked you a few questions? Just really quick like maybe five minutes.”

He said, “Well, I do need to go in a little while, but sure!”

So we turned the corner and sat down. The rest is history. I recorded our conversation via Evernote. I wasn’t sure if people were interested in hearing it, but if so I can make it public. I'll give you the highlight of what he said to one of my questions. I asked him what he learned specifically from Apollo 13, that basically changed his life or kept throughout his life that could be applied in my own life. This is what he said:

People give up too easy. Don't ever give up.
Team work is amazing. It’s amazing what you can have when you have a team that works well together.
You must have good leadership - not just at the top, but through out the organization.
We need innovators, people with imagination … people that can overcome crisis.

Something always comes up and interrupts the plans we make. Be ready for change.

Perseverance.
Team work, work with more than yourself and you can accomplish more than you'd ever imagine.
Motivation- whatever you do, be motivated.

If you’re not motivated then change your job, or your outlook on life. Do whatever you need to to find your motivation and life a happy life.

After we spoke for about 15 minutes, he said, “Well I really do need to go, but nice to meet you.” I stood up and thanked him for his time and asked if I could give him a hug. I think he got a chuckle of out that, but hey… I got to hug Jim Lovell!

I was such a great day! Blakely and I stayed for lunch. I had a chicken salad sandwich that was very yummy.

I am so thankful I had the opportunity to meet him. I can hardly believe it happened. This experience was so completely close to the core of who I am, what I love and the childhood dreams I had. Seriously. There’s not many ways it could have gotten better (for example if Tom Hanks had walked in, I think I would have literally fainted from too much awesome).

Oh, and then after lunch I went downstairs and took pictures of everything as well as made a video :) Haha.