As we approached the 8th anniversary of September 11, 2001 I started to remember certain events during my life that I recall and felt were significant. Going back to the earliest in my memory, they are:November 22, 1963. I was in the 1st grade when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I remember the day fairly well. I was home sick in bed and listening to my little turquoise Motorola AM radio. I heard a news report and remember saying to my mother when she came to check on me..."President Kennedy was shot." Of course, I didn't understand the ramifications of the event, and she scolded me for saying such a thing. "It's true, I just heard it on the radio." My next memory of that week was sitting in the living room watching JFK's funeral procession on our big black & white console television and seeing the tears slide down my mother's face.
July 20, 1969. I remember sitting in our summer cabin in Connecticut with a friend watching the moon landing on TV. I'm assuming I was watching it live but that was 40 years ago so maybe it was taped? I know it was during the day on a bright, hot summer day. I thought the whole thing was very cool.
December 8, 1980. The day John Lennon was murdered. He was shot about 11 p.m. so I didn't hear of this until the next morning when my radio alarm clock went off. I remember they were playing some slow, sad Beatles' song when the radio came on at 6 a.m. When I heard the DJ say John Lennon was shot to death the night before, I sat right up straight in bed and said "I hope he didn't do it to himself." That probably sounds irreverent now but remember this was right after the decade that saw the deaths of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Mama Cass and Janis Joplin. Rock stars being responsible for their own deaths was pretty common then and now, I suppose. No other rock star's death has ever affected me like John Lennon's did.
September 11, 2001. That beautiful Tuesday morning I was sitting at my desk with some news page open on my computer when I looked over to see the first report. This was before streaming news, at least on my computer, so I had to keep refreshing the page to keep up. I rushed out into the office to tell anyone who happened to be in what was happening. The manager of the office, Pat, had a tiny little battery-operated TV on and sat watching the report in shock. Her son Tom was living in NJ and was scheduled to fly from Newark that morning. Remember the plane that flew into the field in Pennsylvania left from Newark. Fairly soon after the first reports she got a call from her daughter-in-law saying Tom was not on that plane.
For most of the day, those of us in the office walked around very quietly. Immediately the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 came to my mind. I was working with an agent, Dan Hunter, who I knew had been in the service during World War II. Dan is one of my heroes. I've said it many times in the 10 years I've known him. On 9/11/2001 when Dan stopped at my office door to talk I asked him, "Where were you on December 7th, Dan?" Pearl Harbor was his answer. Literally my mouth fell open, "You were there?" I said. He was there. He was a young Navy pilot, less than 20 I think, and his job was to fly the officers around the area. He was lucky enough that day to be away from the base. To this day I am amazed that I know someone who was actually at Pearl Harbor on that day.
One of the flight attendants on United Airlines Flight 175 flying from Boston to LA on 9/11 was from my town. Her uncle was a real estate attorney I did a lot of business with back then. I remember having a closing in his office that Friday. No one knew what to say to him, it was so horrible.
Today I expect to be reminded many times of that day and the chaos and horror of the week that followed. Certainly a momentous day in our history.
There were other important events that have happened but I can't remember exactly where and how I heard about them. These are my memories. What do you remember?
Image from Google Images
July 20, 1969. I remember sitting in our summer cabin in Connecticut with a friend watching the moon landing on TV. I'm assuming I was watching it live but that was 40 years ago so maybe it was taped? I know it was during the day on a bright, hot summer day. I thought the whole thing was very cool.
December 8, 1980. The day John Lennon was murdered. He was shot about 11 p.m. so I didn't hear of this until the next morning when my radio alarm clock went off. I remember they were playing some slow, sad Beatles' song when the radio came on at 6 a.m. When I heard the DJ say John Lennon was shot to death the night before, I sat right up straight in bed and said "I hope he didn't do it to himself." That probably sounds irreverent now but remember this was right after the decade that saw the deaths of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Mama Cass and Janis Joplin. Rock stars being responsible for their own deaths was pretty common then and now, I suppose. No other rock star's death has ever affected me like John Lennon's did.
September 11, 2001. That beautiful Tuesday morning I was sitting at my desk with some news page open on my computer when I looked over to see the first report. This was before streaming news, at least on my computer, so I had to keep refreshing the page to keep up. I rushed out into the office to tell anyone who happened to be in what was happening. The manager of the office, Pat, had a tiny little battery-operated TV on and sat watching the report in shock. Her son Tom was living in NJ and was scheduled to fly from Newark that morning. Remember the plane that flew into the field in Pennsylvania left from Newark. Fairly soon after the first reports she got a call from her daughter-in-law saying Tom was not on that plane.
For most of the day, those of us in the office walked around very quietly. Immediately the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 came to my mind. I was working with an agent, Dan Hunter, who I knew had been in the service during World War II. Dan is one of my heroes. I've said it many times in the 10 years I've known him. On 9/11/2001 when Dan stopped at my office door to talk I asked him, "Where were you on December 7th, Dan?" Pearl Harbor was his answer. Literally my mouth fell open, "You were there?" I said. He was there. He was a young Navy pilot, less than 20 I think, and his job was to fly the officers around the area. He was lucky enough that day to be away from the base. To this day I am amazed that I know someone who was actually at Pearl Harbor on that day.
One of the flight attendants on United Airlines Flight 175 flying from Boston to LA on 9/11 was from my town. Her uncle was a real estate attorney I did a lot of business with back then. I remember having a closing in his office that Friday. No one knew what to say to him, it was so horrible.
Today I expect to be reminded many times of that day and the chaos and horror of the week that followed. Certainly a momentous day in our history.
There were other important events that have happened but I can't remember exactly where and how I heard about them. These are my memories. What do you remember?
Image from Google Images
