Full Circle
I was born in 1950. I have many memories, as do we all, but some of my most vivid are memories of the civil rights movement in our country, the United States of America.
I was a child, so pictures of other children affected me greatly. Little girls, like me only a different color, killed in church bombings, in what seemed to me like weekly events. I would watch wide-eyed in front of the ever-present tube.
If not church bombings, then missing and presumed dead, civil rights workers. Masses of people on peaceful marches for civil rights, being hosed down by horrid-looking men with fire hoses. Pictures of ridiculous groups in crazy get-ups actually killing other human beings. As my father was a news junkie, I saw it all. Because of my Dad, I saw on live TV, Lee Harvey Oswald being assassinated but Jack Ruby.
As an eighth grader, I was dismissed early from school, because of the assassination of our beloved President Jack Kennedy. Say what you will about him, he was a life changer because he gave people hope. His funeral is also something I will never forget. My family and extended family got together to watch it on TV.
One great thing though, when I was still in high school, when I had just arrived home from a date, at 11 or 12 midnight, and was about to slink off to bed, my father made me watch the men landing on the moon. I was about to retire and he would not hear of it. This is history! he said. Sit down and watch! I did and I will always be grateful to him for making me watch such an historic moment. I still have our copy of the Pawtucket Times with the photos of the historic moon landing. Thanks, Dad.
I loved Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. When I was a senior in high school, both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated in the spring right before my graduation. I remember files of us high school kids walking somberly through the halls, listening to the intercom announcements. It is accurate to say our spirits were crushed and we were bereft. We were just beginning to hear of kids a year or 2 older being killed in the Viet Nam War. It was really incredible.
Last night, I witnessed another incredible event. I saw the selection of Barack Obama as the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention. If the nominee had been Hillary Clinton, it would have been just as momentous, in my opinion. After all, I did live through the Women’s Movement. If not as violent as the Civil Right Movement, a lot of lives were changed as a result, nevertheless.
I started to think what a great life I have lived, just by being an observer, and I am only half way through. I haven’t even factored in all the technological breakthroughs from 1950 ‘til now. It really is a mindblower. I’m very lucky to be a witness to such historic events, even if only on TV (unlike Forrest Gump!). Someday I will make a list of all the things I have seen and experienced.
I was a child, so pictures of other children affected me greatly. Little girls, like me only a different color, killed in church bombings, in what seemed to me like weekly events. I would watch wide-eyed in front of the ever-present tube.
If not church bombings, then missing and presumed dead, civil rights workers. Masses of people on peaceful marches for civil rights, being hosed down by horrid-looking men with fire hoses. Pictures of ridiculous groups in crazy get-ups actually killing other human beings. As my father was a news junkie, I saw it all. Because of my Dad, I saw on live TV, Lee Harvey Oswald being assassinated but Jack Ruby.
As an eighth grader, I was dismissed early from school, because of the assassination of our beloved President Jack Kennedy. Say what you will about him, he was a life changer because he gave people hope. His funeral is also something I will never forget. My family and extended family got together to watch it on TV.
One great thing though, when I was still in high school, when I had just arrived home from a date, at 11 or 12 midnight, and was about to slink off to bed, my father made me watch the men landing on the moon. I was about to retire and he would not hear of it. This is history! he said. Sit down and watch! I did and I will always be grateful to him for making me watch such an historic moment. I still have our copy of the Pawtucket Times with the photos of the historic moon landing. Thanks, Dad.
I loved Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. When I was a senior in high school, both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated in the spring right before my graduation. I remember files of us high school kids walking somberly through the halls, listening to the intercom announcements. It is accurate to say our spirits were crushed and we were bereft. We were just beginning to hear of kids a year or 2 older being killed in the Viet Nam War. It was really incredible.
Last night, I witnessed another incredible event. I saw the selection of Barack Obama as the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention. If the nominee had been Hillary Clinton, it would have been just as momentous, in my opinion. After all, I did live through the Women’s Movement. If not as violent as the Civil Right Movement, a lot of lives were changed as a result, nevertheless.
I started to think what a great life I have lived, just by being an observer, and I am only half way through. I haven’t even factored in all the technological breakthroughs from 1950 ‘til now. It really is a mindblower. I’m very lucky to be a witness to such historic events, even if only on TV (unlike Forrest Gump!). Someday I will make a list of all the things I have seen and experienced.
Labels: 1960s, Susan Gustavson
POSTED BY
at
9:31 PM
2 Comments:
I found your website today and was quite impressed with the level of the properties offered. I can relate to Your post here as I was born in 1945. Our lives have experienced one of the greatest periods in US history. The fact that the Obama story is the American dream cannot be denied. His nomination establishes a new era of REAL equality in our country.
We can look to the future again with a better attitude. Good luck to you and to Obama.
First, you name your article, "Full Circle", and then you say you are only half way through.That contradicts "Full Circle" Seems that would be HALF CIRCLE. Then you say you were born in 1950, If you are only half way through, does this mean that you expect to live to be one hundred & sixteen years old? You sure love to toot your own horn don't you? Well for someone who supposedly has all that schooling, you don't do so well with your English. For instance, it isn't "AN" historic event. Any time you use the word "AN, the next word must begin with a vowel. With all those mistakes, I would suggest you proofread, or use spell checker.
By the way, I made a $40 million dollar sale in one day. I sold property for a gigantic mall. The kicker is, I didn't even finish high school. I did get my G.E.D. , And a real estate license.
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