True story

There was a time, about a year ago when my husband took me to our local gun club. With my ear sensitivity in mind I walked into the indoor range with ear muffs on. We met his co-worker and boss, two men which I believe I can say with full confidence he considers in high regard. I was a bit taken aback when I heard the first round go off. Trouble is, I wasn't technically in the range room yet. It was more like a rec room or lobby to the range. Terry could see the concern on my face and checked to see if my ear muffs were "on". Yep. We walked into the room finally and the rounds kept going off as could be expected. My eyes started to well up. I stayed for Terry, not wanting to walk out crying. But you know what happens when wells fill up. I got Terry's attention and he looked at me, saw the trepidation in my eyes. He mouthed "what's wrong?" but knew the answer to the question. I walked out into the lobby and tried to compose myself. I can't cry in front of NASA people. This is stupid! Get ahold of yourself! I pumped myself up, stood up, and was met by one of the co-workers. Ear-plugs! Great. Ok. I've got this. Ear plugs and muffs. No problem. Walked in again and it was as though I hadn't composed myself at all. BANG! (tear) BANG! BANG! (tear, stream). I ran out, mortified. I jumped into the truck, attempted to calm down my breathing, caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and saw my super cry face. The one only your family or close friends have seen... Or those people on that night you wish you could forget... Terry came running out not two minutes later, packed up. We had only just arrived, and now we were leaving. Leaving his coworkers because I was crying. I felt like the biggest loser. He held my hand and assured me it was okay as we drove away. Funny story to this true story: If you hold a balloon and mock like you're going to pop it in front of me, I literally will plug my ears, duck and run. My earliest memory of this was a 5 year old birthday party. I couldn't participate in the sit on the balloon "fun".