52 Ancestors: Witness to History - My Memories

Over the years, I've often thought about all that my grandparents saw in their lifetimes.  One of my favorite memories is my grandmother writing to my grandfather about taking a ride in "the machine" which was how she described the automobile.  How things have changed in just over a century - cars in every garage, airplanes, jets, rockets, space shuttles!

This prompt reminded me of this and also of what my parents experienced in their lives throughout the 20th century - so much change it is almost incomprehensible.  And that made me think about all that I have lived through with, hopefully, more to come.

The first memory I have is a parade or rally for John F. Kenney in 1960.  I have very few memories of my early years but that event made quite an impact on a not quite 6 year old little girl.  I don't remember too many details but I imagine it was something like this.

My most vivid memory of that day was shaking his hand - I think his car was meandering through the streets and as people reached out to him, he shook their hand.  I was a lucky little girl and remember thinking I would never wash my hand.  HA!

And then just 3 short years later, the unthinkable happened and this time while his motorcade was meandering through the streets of Dallas, shots rang out.  That day was one of those where you know exactly where you were when you heard the news.  I was in the 4th grade at Willow Glen Elementary and when we returned to our classroom after recess, we were told that the president had been shot.  I don't know how many of my classmates comprehended what had happened but I remember thinking "why would anyone shoot the principal of our school?"  And after a few moments, I realized it was the president, not the principal.

As anyone who was alive at that time can attest to, the country was captivated for the next four days.  We saw on live TV Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald and the following day, the procession and burial in Arlington National Cemetery.  And who can forget his young son saluting his father as the procession passed by.

In 1964, the book Four Days arrived at our house and over the years I spent hours upon hours pouring through the book learning all of the details of one of the most historic events in American history.  And all those years later as we cleaned out the home I grew up in and my parents lived in for more than 50 years, I searched and searched and sure enough, there it was.

I don't have vivid memories of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy but I do remember the horror of the times.

And then, just a year later, another historic event occurred, this time on a much more positive note - MEN WALKED ON THE MOON!

"That is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".  I remember riding in the car while my sister drove us home from the beach and hearing those words on the radio.  What a day!

Fast forward to 1989 when one October morning my dad called me at work and said "I have 2 tickets to the World Series game tonight - can you fly to San Jose and go with me?"  That was based on a promise he made in 1962 when he had 2 tickets to the Giants/Yankees World Series game and took my older sister to the game and said that day "I promise the next time the Giants get in the World Series I'll take you".  And 27 years later he (with the help of the Giants) was finally able to fulfill his promise.  Although I couldn't get there in time, I let him off the hook and it was then that he decided to not attend the game.  October 17, 1989 brought a magnitude 6.9 earthquake to the area and, thankfully, we were both safe and sound in our houses rather than at Candlestick Park.  So many lives changed that day.

August 31, 1997 - Special Report.  I heard the words while in the kitchen completing some mundane task.  Princess Diana has died.  Another time we were riveted to the TV watching the news and then not quite a week later, the funeral.  

But nothing has etched a memory in my brain more than September 11, 2001.  Early morning on the west coast and as I turned on the TV while getting ready for work, I wondered why they were showing a replay of people evacuating the World Trade Center from 1993.  Why was there so much panic in the reporters' voices?  And then I learned that a plane had crashed into the tower.  And we gasped as we saw the second plane hit.  I will never, as long as I live, forget that day.

I may not have been an actual witness to history but I have memories of these events and think it's important to remember how they changed our lives.