Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Where were you?



          I remember the announcement at Stratford Junior High in Arlington, Virginia that November day in 1963 and walking home through the leaves with my friends Sheila and Anne.
Later, my family sat in front of the television day after day, watching the sad events unfold on television. The blood-stained widow, the empty saddle with the boots turned backward, the little boy saluting.



          I remember sitting in an empty classroom in September, 2001 during a break from teaching at the High School of Commerce in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was a room where students checked in if they had arrived late to school and a television turned to the news played on the wall. I sat and watched unbelieving as one plane, then another, crashed into the side of a building. The horror only increased as the buildings began to crumble and figures could be seen leaping into the empty air.



Today, like every morning, I went out and walked Mamie around in the crisp autumn air. Like every morning I came back in, poured myself some orange juice, turned on National Public Radio, and started a cup of tea in the microwave. The news began, and brought with it the shock and apprehension for our country that I had felt on those other black days. I can’t imagine that the next four years will be filled with anything other than ugliness and disaster.



Today America’s future was altered as irredeemably as it was in 1963 and 2001.

13 comments:

  1. The situation is still too raw for me to think about. In a few days I'll be able to handle it better but not today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. As with Brexit, the first thing I did on waking was to look at my iPad. I think it was the BBC which came up. As with Brexit, I shouted into the empty room :Oh no. OH NO. OH NOO!

    The Morons are on the march everywhere. What makes so many people stupid enough to believe promises which are broken the moment they are uttered?

    The Young have a hard road ahead of them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. At first I was horrified and dismayed. They all said Hillary had it. What happened? Now I am leveling off a bit and am determined to bug the fool out of my representatives via emails letting them know that some of us will be heard. That old squeaky wheel. It's what I can still do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you, Patti! A model we all should follow.

      Delete
  4. We can only hope that in a free country we can still fight for the little guy and not go to jail.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's a sad day. I have a hard time believing that I don't live in the America I thought I did.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I too feel like I've had a death in the family. Well, I guess I have. Climate change is real, and our President Elect doesn't believe in it. Yes, a death for certain. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  7. You've made an excellent comparison. I hope you're wrong in your prediction.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I said the same thing at work -- that the energy yesterday, that feeling of thick tension, reminded me of the energy in the days immediately following 9/11, when we all desperately wanted to go back -- as if we could reach back and still touch the hopeful past that was so quickly vanishing into the shock of the present.

    ReplyDelete
  9. yep. America is forever changed and not for the better.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've been depressed, and mulling over things since 11/9. I agree with the comparison. I'm now thinking that its also true that America struggled post the events, yet it survived and even became hopeful of the future. Its also occurred to me that if Trump had lost, these protests would have been MUCH more violent.Plus, Trump, as consistently shown against Obama's administration, would not have left Hillary govern, with no helping hand from the GOP either. The GOP now are in FULL command - lets see what they can do in this globalised work where its impossible to wind the clock back for workers. Personally, I'm hoping DT comes to an ignoble end like someone he's praised, Saddam Hussain. It really hurts to see evil win. (I agree Hillary was no angel, but against this bigot, sexual predator, lier, riot-inciter, etc etc there was no comparison.)

    Having said that, if GOP is successful, its great for America. If not, then the future becomes bleaker, for some time at least.

    Perhaps there has to be a firestorm before new shoots of hope and peace can spring up. The rules of life say that it can't always be up, the downs have to come - and after that it has to go UP. Its also wonderful to see people speak up AGAINST Trump (and yes, there are the sycophants who have turned coats - but they are there everywhere). Just read the Hubgrub CEO's email to staff, basically speaking up against DT's divisiveness.

    Annie

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.