I have been thinking recently about what we all remember earliest in terms of national or international events. Not just childhood memories, but things others would remember as well. And not based on some timeline in a book or on a website, but actual memories one would have.
For me it is the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. I remember sitting
in my second grade class and our teacher, Mrs. Headley telling us the news. I do not remember much else about about Mrs. Headley.
I do not know why this sticks in my memory. Nothing on the early space flights, nothing with Cuba in the news, nothing about the Cold War, nothing sports related predates this memory. This is the one rooted in my mind.
I remember watching scenes on TV: coverage from Andrews AFB when they brought the body back to DC with Jackie still in the bloodstained suit; the funeral procession, watching the horse walk down the street with the boots backwards in the stirrups, watching JFK Jr., even younger than me, standing there saluting his father's coffin on the horse drawn carriage. I remember how upset the adults around me were.
It had quite an impact to visit the The Sixth Floor Museum 5 years ago when we moved to Dallas, to see events in a museum that I had personal memories of as a child. However, it was an event that I remember with sadness, but without any political or societal ramifications. I understood the occurrence, but not the event that happened.
I cannot say how this shaped my thinking or worldview, I was 7 at the time. My worldview centered around getting out of school at 3pm, summer vacation, ice cream and candy. But it sticks with me, and I review it in my mind from time to time. Especially around this time of year. Hard to believe it was 45 years ago that this happened in the city I now live next to.
For me it is the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. I remember sitting
in my second grade class and our teacher, Mrs. Headley telling us the news. I do not remember much else about about Mrs. Headley.I do not know why this sticks in my memory. Nothing on the early space flights, nothing with Cuba in the news, nothing about the Cold War, nothing sports related predates this memory. This is the one rooted in my mind.
I remember watching scenes on TV: coverage from Andrews AFB when they brought the body back to DC with Jackie still in the bloodstained suit; the funeral procession, watching the horse walk down the street with the boots backwards in the stirrups, watching JFK Jr., even younger than me, standing there saluting his father's coffin on the horse drawn carriage. I remember how upset the adults around me were.
It had quite an impact to visit the The Sixth Floor Museum 5 years ago when we moved to Dallas, to see events in a museum that I had personal memories of as a child. However, it was an event that I remember with sadness, but without any political or societal ramifications. I understood the occurrence, but not the event that happened.
I cannot say how this shaped my thinking or worldview, I was 7 at the time. My worldview centered around getting out of school at 3pm, summer vacation, ice cream and candy. But it sticks with me, and I review it in my mind from time to time. Especially around this time of year. Hard to believe it was 45 years ago that this happened in the city I now live next to.
