The daily newspaper carried an article about auspicious events, events which cause people to remember where they were at the moment a person became aware of the event. The article listed a number of them ... from the date the stock market crashed in 1929 to the date Hurricane Katrina struck.
I won't quarrel with many of them. The assassination of President Kennedy is one of those events the author cites. I have no doubt that those of my generation will tell you where they were and what they were doing at the time the announcement was made.
But what about January 22, 1973 ... the day Roe v. Wade was decided. I don't think that's a date that is recalled with such clarity that even a majority of us knew what we were doing when we heard about it. Maybe so. I could be wrong and the only person on the planet alive at the time who doesn't know where he was and what he was doing. The author, Fran Henry, a local reporter, forgot to include the first edition of Monday Night Football, September 21, 1970 (No, I didn't know the date, only that I was in the grandstand that night.), which I'm sure more remember than Roe v. Wade.
July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong hopped off the LEM and didn't disappear in lunar quicksand as some had feared. It was a live television event ... from the Moon's surface or 30 Rockefeller Center, as some claim. Either way it happened, most people know where they were, and it was probably watching the grainy gray-and-white picture on the television.
In more recent history, how about January 28, 1986? Challenger exploded on lift-off. Certainly, teachers and space enthusiasts would recall where they were. I don't know about others.
And how about November 9, 1989? Where were you when the Berlin Wall was torn down? I saw it on the news, maybe that day, maybe the next; or maybe I read about it in the newspaper ... I don't remember. Maybe most people in Germany or Berlin do; but nobody's ever asked me where I was when the Berlin Wall was torn down.
How about July 7, 1981? Anybody recall where they were for that auspicious event? The woman on the left side of this blog sent the neighbor up to the baseball diamond, where I was coaching a little league team, to tell me to get my ass home and take her to the fucking hospital because she was in labor. Yes, she used that kind of language even back then; but the boy child was just too comfortable and secure where he was ... couldn't get him out until the next night.
Okay, so that isn't on the author's list, but March 1, 1982, is on the list. I laughed when I saw this thing on her list. The author claims that it is one of "a cavalcade of days lodged firmly in our memories ...". Yes, she actually used the word cavalcade.
And she has the unmitigated gall to tell me that August 16, 1977, should be permanently etched in my brain, so much so that I recall exactly where I was when it happened ... well, it just didn't happen. She is like totally wrong, my friends. Elvis is alive. I've run into two people on my dog walks who say they have seen him. And about the gravesite ...
Posted by Bill at September 11, 2006 09:46 PMI love this kind of post. I was at school when JFK was assasinated. I remember the TV programs being cancelled and seeing lots of people praying inside a church instead.
22January 1973 was the day before I started work. Who were Roe v Wade?
I watched Neil Armstrong but i'm not sure if it was direct. I was terrified they wouldn't be able to take off again.
I remember the build up to Challenger more than the explosion. Here in France they were very taken with the teacher going up part.
I didn't remember the date of the Berlin wall coming down, but we watched as it happened. I made Christian and Dom watch even though they were babies so they could tell their grandchildren about it.
When the French and English sides of the Channel tunnel met up, it was just in time for the lunch time news, but I couldn't tell you the date.
July 7th 1981; the weather was really hot. It was a Tuesday and the bank was very busy that day and I worked through my lunchtime.
I was in a pub in the North East of England when I found out about Elvis. I lot of beer was downed that day, I can tell you.
Another I remember, though I don't know the date, was Lucille Ball dying.
This is the best Bill! I totally understand and love this entry.
I was a baby (well, 3 years old) when Kennedy was assassinated; but, I can tell ya', I remember all the conversations about that sad day; and, of course, I learned all the facts in school.
I was barely 13 when the Roe v. Wade decision was made. I don't remember exactly what I may have been doing that day, however, I remember the whole thing in the news. I am sooo very thankful for that verdict.
Again, don't remember what I was doing when Neil stepped on the moon's surface, but I was most likely involved in whatever other 9 year olds were doing on that day, as my grandparents watched the whole thing on their black and white screen.
I Do remember Challenger vividly. I was working as a Speech/Language Pathologist in the school system. I was in our central office at the board of Education that day and saw the whole thing, trying to figure how I would speak with my students as they talked to me about it.
The Berlin Wall--I lived in Charleston, WV. I remember watching it all on the news, but don't know exactly what I was doing that day.
Ah, dear Elvis! I was driving someplace, heard it all over the radio. Still looking for him to show up because so many say he will, ya' know. :) I'll bet you didn't really mean for folks to tell you. perhaps I should have made this a post on my site. Hugs...
Was the March 1 of 82 the date Reagan was shot? That's the only thing I can think might have happened at that time. You don't explain what happened at the time and I'm not in the mood to google it. I remember the heat of summer when Elvis died, er, disappeared. I actually remember that summer day with much more clarity than I remember the Berlin Wall news, but I remember thinking as I fed my daughter her 18-month dinner what an auspicious event it was and that I should be paying more attention.
Posted by: Keri at September 14, 2006 03:38 PM