A HANDFUL OF EVENTS IN LIFE CONNECT US ALL. NEITHER SPECIFICALLY GOOD OR BAD, JUST CLASSIFIED AS EARTH-SHATTERING. NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN. INDELIBLE IN EACH OF OUR INDIVIDUAL MEMORY BANKS.
ON THE GOOD SIDE, THERE WAS THE BEATLES COMING TO AMERICA AND THEIR APPEARANCE ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. NEIL ARMSTRONG'S FIRST STEP ON THE MOON. MAYBE A FEW SPORTING EVENTS. A HANDFUL OF TV SHOWS PERHAPS. HMMMM.....MAYBE FEWER GOOD ONES THAN I HAD AT FIRST IMAGINED.
ISN'T IT ODD HOW THE BAD ONES SEEM TO OUTNUMBER THE GOOD?
I WAS SIX WHEN PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS SHOT. I RECALL WALKING HOME FROM MY FIRST GRADE CLASS. WHEN I ARRIVED HOME I SAW MY MOTHER SITTING ON THE COUCH, WEEPING, HUGE SOBBING TEARS. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A WOMAN - OR ANYONE - EVER CRY LIKE MY MOM THAT DAY. I REMEMBER SEEING OUR SCHOOL FLAG HANGING AT HALF-MAST. THE DEATHS OF DR. KING AND ROBERT KENNEDY HAD NO REAL IMPACT ON MY INNOCENT, 13-YEAR-OLD MIND IN '68. HA! A LARK! MAYBE THERE'LL BE NO SCHOOL TODAY. IGNORANCE IS, INDEED, BLISS. MUCH DIFFERENTLY, THE DEATH OF JOHN LENNON IN 1980 HAD A DEEP AND PROFOUND EFFECT. I WAS A HUGE BEATLES FAN, LENNON MY SUPREME HERO. I WAS ABSOLUTELY SHELL-SHOCKED. SUCH A SMALL, PATHETIC MAN COULD ACTUALLY TAKE AWAY THE LIFE OF THIS GIANT - THE GREATEST ARTIST OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
LITTLE DID ANY OF US IMAGINE THE COLLECTIVE IMPACT OF 9/11, 13 YEARS AGO. COULD ANY OF US IMAGINE - IN OUR WILDEST DREAMS (NIGHTMARES) - HOW MANY HUMAN DEATHS WOULD HAVE OCCURRED ON AND AFTER THAT NOTORIOUS DAY? TOO HORRIBLE TO CALCULATE.
THE EVIL WE SEE ON OUR PLANET IN ITS WAKE - TOO HORRIFIC TO CONFRONT, MUCH LESS UNDERSTAND. AS WE LOOK AT THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST, I IMAGINE WE MUST FEEL LIKE AMERICANS IN THE 30'S AND '40'S AS THEY WATCHED THE NEWSREELS OF THE NAZIS GOOSE-STEPPING AND STORM-TROOPING. CHILLING. CREEPY. EVIL ON SUCH A GRAND SCALE ONE FEELS A TOTAL EFFECT.
WHAT CAUSES HUMAN HATE TO EXIST HAS BEEN SURMISED AND DEBATED BY THE GREATEST PHILOSOPHERS SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL. ALL TOO OFTEN IN HUMAN HISTORY, THE EVIL TRUMPS THE GOOD.
I THINK WE ALL REALIZE THAT IF IT DOES TRIUMPH AGAIN, THERE MAY BE NO REAL TOMORROW FOR ANY DECENT PEOPLE.
I SEND MY LOVE TO ALL MY WONDERFUL FRIENDS.
MAY THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR COLLECTIVE NATURE AS HUMAN BEINGS TRIUMPH.
MAY WE ALL LIVE TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE A BRIGHTER DAY!
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