I remember 9/11.....I had only been back to work for about a week since my DH's death and someone in the warehouse heard about it on the radio they had playing. He ran into the office and told us to turn on the TV we had in the conference room. I remember about 12 of us sitting around the conference room table watching in disbelief. I don't think we got much done that day. I can remember that I didn't want to go home that day...I just wanted to "be" with people.

On a happier note I, too, remember the Star Wars premier and sitting through the whole movie completely confused and not knowing what in the world the plot of the movie was!!!

August 28, 1963 - Sitting on my living room floor mesmerized by Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. With the exception of my father, MLK became my favorite person that day.

August, 1966 - MLK came to the south side, and I wanted my father to take me to see him in person. He said I was too young. I stayed home and watched the coverage on TV. I was stunned and horrified when my neighbors threw rocks at him. My father just shook his head in disgust at their behavior.

April 21, 1967 - My 9th birthday. A huge F4/5 tornado hit my neighborhood, killing 33 people and injuring hundreds. If it hadn't been my birthday, my father most likely would have also been killed - but he came home early that day.

April 4, 1968 - Woke up to the news that MLK had been assassinated. Over the days that followed, watching my city crumble and burn due to the riots. Some of those neighborhoods never recovered from their loss.

February 12, 1973 - Watching my VietNam POW "brother" Dan step off the plane after being released from the jungle. I wore a bracelet with his name and prayed my heart out night and day for the guy. I never even knew what he looked like until he stepped off that plane. I named my son after him. I'm wearing that bracelet again - until my son comes home from the desert.

August 28 is a very memorable day for me. In addition to MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, it was also the day a young boy named Emmett Til was beaten to death in 1955. His mother had an open-casket funeral. He's buried down the street from me. I wasn't around when it happened, but it was still a big deal around here. It caused a lot of anger.

August 28, 1990 - From an 18th floor window, I watched a huge tornado destroy a lot of land in Plainfield.

August 28, 1991 - After a five-year battle, my father died from cancer.

August 28, 1998 - I stood at my kitchen window that afternoon admiring a butterfly I had never seen before. It was perched on a brick outside and stayed there for the longest time. It looked like a Monarch, but the distribution of color was different.

That evening, news broke that Princess Diana had been killed in an auto accident. The next day, I went up to the library to find out the name of the butterfly I saw the day before. It was a "Diana." May she rest in peace.

I think this year on August 28th I'll stay in my room and not watch any TV.

ok - I'll play...

JFK assasination - I was in Kindergarden. People just went crying for no apparent reason to me. His funeral - it must've been on a Saturday because I remember being upset because it preempted cartoons.

7/20/69 - The Tuesday Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper was as thick as a Sunday paper!!! I delivered 75 of those things. Who cares man landed on the moon! I still have a copy...

7/25/69 - The Sunday Plain Dealer weighed at least 20 pounds! I delivered 110 of them! Who cares if the first men on the moon splashed down. I still have a copy of that one too.

6/10/66 - Cleveland Indians' pitcher Sonny Siebert pitched a no hitter. Cleveland 2, Washington Senators 0. I was there...

9/11 - Sitting at my desk at work, boss sticks his head into my office and says a plane flew into 1 WTC. I said yeah right...

November 1983 - I was stationed in West Germany when we received the first batch of the Pershing II nuclear missiles - they replaced the Pershing 1A missiles. We could hit Moscow and most major soviet bases with the PII. The PIA could only hit bases in the satellite countries. Guess what? Cold war's over. It took a few years for the INF treaty, but deploying the PII ended the cold war. We had no idea at the time we were making history...

8/24/92 - stupid me tried to drive from Tampa FL to Miami FL that morning. I finally made it to Miami that evening. Have you ever tried to drive thru a hurricane? House destroyed. Hurricane Andrew.

Can y'all tell my vacation starts in 4 hours????

Tom

Feb. 1964-watching the Beatles on Sullivan Show...I was 8. Said "They're goofy." Dad said, "They're going to be real popular." Understatement if I ever heard one.

Apr. '68-MLK shot. I remember my dad saying, "America's going to burn." Why was he always right?

Dec. 8, 1980-The night John Lennon was killed. Weirdly, it changed my life. I hadn't even bought his and Yoko's album, but his death did something to me. I read all the interviews he'd done right before his death, and it opened my mind up to reading many things that made me think about reality and why we're here. Began photography, writing, exploring New Age thinking.

9/11-DH called, told me, "Planes just crashed into the WTC." I got up and watched, horrified. Woke my DS (he was 21 at the time) up; I couldn't be alone. When the south tower fell, I collapsed in his arms, and said, "I'm so sorry I brought you into such an evil world." DD called from high school, crying and worried about her dad, who worked near the Sears Tower. She'd heard that it was about to be hit. I told her not to worry, they evacuated the downtown Chicago area. DH said it was eery down there. That day felt like Armageddon...I think about those souls who were stuck up above the impacted areas...and those who felt it was better to die jumping than to die up there...prayers for them...

All my historical memories seem to be sad, so I'll add a happy one....

Summer, 1975 - Pink Floyd concert in Milwaukee, WI. We arrived early, and it was a hot day. It later raned hard during the concert, but it felt good. As the rain let up and they were finishing "Dark Side of the Moon," the clouds parted. Out popped a beautiful full moon just above the stadium. There was a collective hush in the crowd - we all felt blessed, and baptised.

How could I forget those. Well, I haven't but they really hit me hard. LOL the Sullivan show, my best friend and I were watching it on our tiny black and white TV and we were both crying our heads off, just like the rest of the crazy fans. I was instantly in love with John Lennon while I watched all the girls around me fainting over Paul.

December 8. Yes, my hero died. My then little girl was sleeping in bed with me. I was 30 something and going to college and was laying in bed reading a text and had the Saturday Night Live show on. When they broke in with the news about Lennon...well, I mourned for a long time. I'll never forget the worldwide candlelight vigil and moments of silence that one night in his memory. Both my daughter and I sat in a dark living room with candles lit respecting the moments of silence. Sigh. I do think his death was a huge loss for humanity. I can just see him now! I believe he would still be an inspiration.

9/11 whoa what do we all say, it was a nasty day thats for sure, i was late going to work and had heard about a plane hit the first tower and the radio wasnt sure as to what type and what extent and as i pulled into work the reporter shouted while doing his interview omg another plane just hit the other tower,

I walked into work told them turn off music and turn on news on radio they gave me a hard time i said do it we are being attacked, I knew that two planes was not an accident. needless to say we all freaked,

deb and my mom went and got all 5 boys out of school and stayed at her house. I was on tonys route that day, I use to do the same 5 different routes each week. about an hour in to the route a guy started saying its horrible the building is down, and as far I could comprehend, he meant facial structural damage not the whole building,

did not see another customer the whole day walking and were i delivered we are not real far from Ohare airport and it got quieter and quieter in the air, finished my route got home to my moms as fast as i could and as i walked in they were showing the second plane, going over that reporters head and into the building, my knees literally buckled and i went to my knees, I was in such shock,

I still had absolutely no idea of the extent of damage and it just floored me. the friendly gent who told me the buildings were gone, that concept hit home a few moments later when they showed it all,

debs cousin worked at the pentagon and it took about 3-5 days after it to find out she was ok, she took some time off and no one knew except her job, her and her boyfriend went camping and when they went to a nearby store for some more food provisions, they saw a newspaper and immediately called her family and friends to let them know what was up,

Ms will never take this memory away, all those innocent souls, 9/11 still gets to me, i burn a candle every 9/11 all day all night and my kids were told when i die they are to continue it, and i mean it, sorry to go on i didnt want to touch the 9/11 memory because i knew i would go on about it, it still touches me very deeply, what they did was a sin in any Gods eye.

One thing I remember well, from when I was little, is the Zodiac Killer (notorious from the San Francisco Bay Area).

Every morning and afternoon before boarding the school bus, it was "drilled" into us what we were supposed to do if we heard something similar to a tire blowing out.

Federal officers boarded our school buses, and took seats.

I don't remember how long that lasted, only that it was pretty freaky. I think that probably affects why I still have an aversion to public transportation.


It happened around the same time my uncle held his family hostage and 17 Sheriff's deputies surrounded his house; he refused to come out even after canisters of tear gas were used. He also refused to give up his weapons. Officers broke into the house, he spun around (with those guns) and they shot him. He died. And, I'll never forget the smell of tear gas.


911: I was asleep, and a friend woke me to tell me to turn on the "Today Show." The rest, we all know too well .

9/11: I turned on the TV just as the first tower fell. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had jury duty that day. I ripped myself away from the TV to check in at the court house. We were on the 5th floor. Confusion was everywhere...and this as far away as you can get except Hawaii.

After we all filtered into the courtroom for jury picking....an aide came in to the Judge. The Judge announced that there were 'Unknown Planes' in the skies heading toward Anchorage. We were evacuated. Scared the hell outta me. We were in one of the taller buildings of the city. Going down the stairs that day I kept thinking about all the people in NYC who had done the same....

We have fly in services for people who want to experiance the bush. These people were left in the wilderness without any form of communications. Around day 5 solo flights went out and dropped newspapers to those on the ground so they would know why they were not being picked up (Planes were grounded).

Never forget.