Found via DocMara at SurfnPoetry: Describe where you were and what you were doing when the following world-changing events happened.
1.)
Challenger space shuttle exploded (1986):
I was standing in my all-in-one living/bedroom/dining room in Tokyo, Japan. I had only been in the country a few weeks, and the only English language I could get was from an Armed Forces radio station. I heard about it then. And over the next few days, I heard it over and over and over.
2.) Berlin
Wall falls down (1989):
This one I don't really remember. I was back in the United States, and lived in a small duplex with my very young daughter. I remember seeing David Hasselhoff standing on the (then) wall.
3.) Oklahoma City federal building bombing
(1995):
I was in an English class at TCU, a British Novel course. The professor, an older (near retirement age) man began to cry. I remember asking him if he knew someone there, and if that was why he was so upset.
4.) OJ Verdict (1995):
I was in a 3rd floor sitting area of the English building at TCU. A few professors had small televisions so they could watch the verdict, and they told the rest of us what had happened.
5.)
Princess Diana dies (1997):
I was home. Until her death, the death of a "celebrity" had never really registered with me. It had never really mattered. Even though I was not a fan, I had seen her marry and divorce, and I noted the magazine covers at the grocery store. I had grown up with her in some ways. I went to church that day, and many people in the congregation had not yet heard about her death. It was odd to see so many people cry.
6.) Columbine massacre (1999):
I was at work, and I was horrified. Traumatized even. I can't really articulate why, but I felt a deep need to go home and be with my daughter. I remember at the time the mother of my daughter's close friend was encouraging her daughter and other "cool" girls to gang up on the lesser-liked girls. This woman did not get the connection between the bullying of kids in school and what happened at Columbine. My daughter was no longer friends with that little girl.
7.) JFK Jr. Plane crash (1999):
Again, I was at work -- I was teaching a Saturday class. I don't remember too much other than being very sad.
8.) Bush/Gore crazy election (2000):
I was about a year into my Ph.D. program, and I was so focused on that, work, and parenting that I didn't give the election too much thought. I wasn't surprised, though, that Gore won, but that Bush claimed the victory. I suppose I was cynical. Heh.
9.)
September 11, (2001):
I was about to go to a meeting, and I was listening to the radio in my office. I thought it was a joke-- you know, how those drive-time radio jocks pull bizarre pranks for ratings-- until I walked downstairs, and the library had televisions on that showed news programs. Dozens of people were gathered around the TVs, dumbfounded. No one knew what to do or think for a little while. Then everyone (including me) wanted to go home and be with our families. I remember seeing the image of Bush in an elementary classroom in Florida with a completely stupid look on his face.
10.) Space ship Columbia disintegrates (2003):
I was sitting in my kitchen making out a grocery list when I heard the explosion overhead. The shuttle was traveling over north central Texas when it disintegrated. I heard it go but didn't know what it was at the time. Just four or five days later, I was in Washington DC for a conference and I went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw where the Columbia astronauts were laid to rest.
11.) Hurricane Katrina hits (2005):
I was at work and it seemed so unreal to me at the time. What was happening couldn't possibly have been happening, I thought, and what was being said about individual lives and their worth by the leaders (and their family members) in our country was horrifying. Interestingly, a day or two after the flooding, a student appeared in one of my classes. It was still early in the semester, and I didn't recognize everyone yet. She introduced herself as a Katrina evacuee. I was so very touched that the former ICW students in the room (male student-athletes) were the first to welcome her to our campus, to our class. They offered to help her in any way that she needed. The ICW students were the epitome of grace and kindness in a horrible time in this woman's life.
