The Moments In Our Lives

I think we all can commiserate with others about where we were when certain events happened that either affected our families, our country or even the world.  Here are some that I remember:

• When John F Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated.  I was in my fifth grade class listening to a lesson from a very well-liked teacher.  He was pretty smart and got along with I think everyone.  He also had a handicap which I never saw but only heard about.  He had a deformed hand (I heard it never grew from when he was a baby) but I never saw it because he kept his hand in his pocket all the time.  Anyway, I was shocked like everyone when I heard that JFK was shot and killed in Dallas even though I can’t say I knew much about him.  Only that he was considered a great man by our country if not the world.
• When 9/11 was happening.  I had just arrived to work at Indiana Gas (IGC).  There was a lot of muffled talk so I went to the nearest TV in one of the conference rooms.  I was not very prepared for what I was seeing (a plane had accidentally hit one of the twin towers in NY).  I couldn’t believe how that had happened (trained pilots and ATC).  It made no sense.  Then while I watched the 2nd plane hit the other tower and I was speechless for a while.  Then we found about the Pentagon and Flight 93.  I don’t remember being worth much the rest of the day even though I worked zombie-like as best I could.
• When Osama Bin-Laden was captured and executed at sea.  The world may have heard about it on May 2, 2011 but I believe it was a night time raid starting April 30th and going into the next morning, their time.  I heard about it from the President at a televised press conference, when it was first confirmed by him that the rumors we had been hearing were true.  It was kind of a bittersweet moment because we were celebrating someone’s death, we had done it and this was the most hated man in this country and much of the free world.  Many had criticized the US for burying him at sea but I think saner heads finally came to realize that was the best place as now there was no shrine for friends and foes alike to visit.