For my generation, November 22 will always be the anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy.
I haven't blogged about it for several years but this year I will because we are living history right now, fast and furiously.
Part of this is adapted from a post November 22, 2013:
Fifty seven years ago today, I was 10 years old and innocent.
For an entire generation, that day defined us here in the United States: the day President
Kennedy was assassinated. We can all tell you, we people of my
generation, exactly where we were and what we were doing.
So can another generation for December 7, and still another generation
who remembers January 28 (the date in 1986 that the Challenger
exploded.) For my son's generation, the day to remember is September 11.
So where were we, those of us who were alive and able to remember, on November 22, 1963? And how did we find out about the assassination?
For my spouse, in elementary school, the school announced it just
shortly before the school bus boarding time. My spouse was in the
school library waiting for the bus.
Me, I was home with a broken leg (being home instructed by the New York City schools). My mother had left me to go shopping and came back, sobbing.
She turned on the TV and that's how I found out.
But my generation is fading away and the December 7 "greatest
generation" loses more and more of its members daily, too. The January 28
generation also will fade. And yes, even the generation of
September 11, 2001. Time is the one thing common to all of us mortals.
It moves too quickly, the older you get.
The sad thing is, for my son's children, is that there will come a day to remember, too.
It is sad, isn't it - we don't
remember the wonderful things the way we remember the terrible things.
For years to come, we all will remember the years of COVID, 2020 (and 2021, too, at least in part.)
But even one day...even that memory will pass, remembered only by history.
Today's song: The Warmth of the Sun by the Beach Boys, which was written on November 22, 1963.
I was in the hospital, having had a baby girl four days earlier. (New mothers were kept in the hospital longer in 1963.) A group of us were seated in a room waiting to see a film on bathing the baby. Time for the film to start came and went. We opened the door. Chaos. People running this way and that, crying.
ReplyDeleteWhat a story - what a memory.
DeleteJanuary 28 is a memorable day for Mary and I: we got married on tat day in '78. I was standing in the computer room at Elmhurst Hospital when I heard about the Challenger...
ReplyDelete...I was a senior in high school on November 22, 1963.
ReplyDeleteI was only 6, and knew nothing of it, and don't remember ever being told. Children were not often included in current events like they are now. I remember when the Vietnam war ended though, I was at a high school basketball game, and they stopped it to give the announcement. Of course, that mattered to all the boys who would have been drafted. There was no need to even register after that, although that changed years later. 9-11, of course, I'll never forget that one. I had the morning news on and there was the second plane headed for the towers. The entire nursing staff and my husband left the room to watch the OJ Simpson verdict. I was having a baby, what the h***!
ReplyDeleteI was a senior in high school and class ended at 2. I walked into the hallway and teachers were abuzz with the news. I had to ride the bus home and worried about the bus driver. My mother had the TV on when I got home.
ReplyDeleteThe Challenger? I was busy running errands. When I got to my son's nursery school to pick him up I was clueless as to what everyone was talking about.
On September 11 I was busy getting ready for work and watching the Today Show. I will never forget those images as they happened.
I was three when Kennedy got shot.
ReplyDeleteStay Safe and Coffee is on
I, too, know exactly where I was when Kennedy was shot. When 9-11 occurred. 28 January a little less so. But, I also recall the 14th of April when the first assassination was effected.
ReplyDeleteYes, Challenger was it for me. 9/11 too, of course, but Challenger happened when I was a freshman in high school.
ReplyDeleteJust like Dora, I was three when Kennedy was shot; I don't remember it, but my mother says I saw Ruby kill Oswald. I was in my office when Challenger happened, and on my way to work on 9/11.
ReplyDelete