What major historical events do you remember?
In my memoir, Immaculate Misconceptions: Tales of Catholic School, I recount the day John Kennedy was shot. Since we lived so close to the school, I would come home for lunch. As I ate my tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich, the phone rang. When my mother answered it, she listened for a moment and then began crying.
The JFK assassination also counts as my first media memory, as we watched the funeral procession, etc. All of it is still etched in my memory.
There have been countless other historical events along the way, such as watching the lottery for the Viet Nam draft. I was within a couple of years of turning 18 and being eligible, but fortunately they ended the war before that birthday.
Then there’s Watergate, the explosions of two shuttles, and 9-11. In the memoir, I ask if there will ever be a time when people don’t reflect back on horrific events. In recent memory we have the war in Ukraine and the attack in Israel.
On the positive side, I see news stories about advances in science, such as robotics, or how people provided wonderful assistance for their fellow humans, and I think, well, there is hope for us. We can find our way out of the bleak social muck we seem to be mired in. I’m going to put those stories in the front of my brain, and try to forget the number of people actually wishing for the Apocalypse.
Speaking of which: in my next blog I’ll have a poem about what happens when you wish for the end of the world.
MUSOFYR 