Saturday, September 06, 2008

Where were you? meme

As seen on Adrienne's blog- and Angela Messenger's:

Where were you when the following events happened.

1. President Kennedy's Assassination - 22 November 1963.
I was only six, and couldn't have cared less. But I knew my parents were upset, and we went to my aunt's and uncle's to watch the funeral. My dad explained to me the riderless horse with an empty boot turned backwards. I was fascinated with the horses.

2. England's World Cup Semi Final v Germany - 4 July 1990 - Not being a sports fan, I barely remember this. I'd also just recently moved back home after graduating from Guilford, and I had my hands full as a single mom. I was shocked, but detached.

3. Margaret Thatcher's resignation - 22 November 1990 - Also not interested. I respected Maggie Thatcher, but it wasn't something I was interested in.

4. Princess Diana's death - 31 August 1997 - On my way home from a camping trip with my then-fiance and friends of ours, and saw it on a paper during a gas stop. Shocked. Royals weren't supposed to die such mundane deaths as in a car wreck. I'd never been enamored of Diana - admired her for her humanitarian work, shook my head over the more worldly and superficial elements of her life... Felt terribly sad for her little boys.

5. Attack on the twin towers - 11 September 2001 - I had had a sleepless night and was trying to take a nap when the hubby hollered at me from the living room. The first tower had just been hit. I came in and watched - it felt so bizarre and all my instincts were aware... then I saw the second tower hit. No doubt then, it was deliberate. Watched lots of coverage - had to run some errands to our bank, so I dressed and went, and that's where I was when the towers collapsed. They had a tv going in their lobby. There was little business - everyone was glued to the tv. As details filtered in of the Pentegon, and then the plane crash in PA - it felt as if we might be on the edge of the end of the world.

6. The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to the papacy - 19 April 2005 - I was home for lunch from my teaching job, and turned on the tv just in time to see the broadcast of the white smoke. Then the official came out and announced... "... Josephus..." and my mind froze - I knew of only one cardinal named Joseph - "Ratzinger!" and my knees gave out and I collapsed by the side of my bed, and wept for joy.

I'll tag whomever might be interested in answering this one.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Kennedy's assassination - I was only 4, so don't remember it at all; not even the funeral.

2. World cup semifinal - living in Memphis; other than that couldn't tell you.

3. Thatcher's resignation - not interested.

4. Di's death - probably saw it on tv that night.

5. Twin Towers - in the library at Franciscan Univ. checking out books for a paper. Someone told me - I thought they must have some really bad weather; a few minutes the second one was hit and I knew it wasn't the weather. Went home to watch the news and call my friends.

6. Ratzinger = Pope - living in western Kentucky, waiting to go to work at a call center. Happened to flip the tv to EWTN when the white smoke went up. Was hoping they'd announce before I had to leave for work. When the announcement came, I too, fell to my knees thanking God, and crying.

Mary T

Anonymous said...

1. I was at kindergarten. I don't remember exactly how I learned about it (whether the teacher told us), but I remember being aware that something very bad had happened. I remember walking down the red brick corridors and feeling kind of somber and scared. Don't remember anything after that.

2. Ask someone who cares. :D

3. In Kuwait. I remember people in Kuwait saying that it seemed strange that both Bush and Thatcher were out of their jobs, but Saddam Hussein was still in place.

4. It was all over the TV in Cyprus, where I was on holiday. I remember being somewhat perplexed by all the emotional outpouring.

5.I was in a shop in Cyprus. The shopgirls were all crowded around a small TV. I could see the pictures. I was shopping for a birthday present for a child; I don't think my kid went to the party even. I immediately went home without buying a gift. It was so frustrating-- the local TV was showing CNN but the Greek-speaking reporters were talking over the English and I couldn't understand anything. I remember a friend phoned me to ask what was going on. She was out of the house and calling me on her mobile. (I remember telling her that it was a Palestinian terrorist attack).

Anonymous said...

Sorry.. forgot to leave my name on the post above:

Grace