... But It Was Long Ago

Where were you ... ? (Part 2)

8. ... when the Berlin Wall came down? Nov. 9, 1989. As with so many other historic events, we were watching it on TV, two 40-year olds who had been through a lot, but all unsuspecting that the worst decade of their lives was crouching on the horizon. The fall of the Wall represented hope for a lessening of the tension that the world had suffered for close to 40 years (spanning our lifetime.)

9. ... when the US invaded Iraq the first time? January 1991. This will serve to illustrate where we were:

In 1991, an ice storm struck western and northern New York from Jamestown to Watertown. In all, 20 counties were affected, 13 of them under a Federal disaster declaration. Rochester was especially hard hit with schools and many businesses closed for a week. Once again, thick ice accumulations from freezing rain knocked out power. In all, almost 325,000 customers were without power. It was the costliest storm ever to strike New York State ...

10. ... when the US was attacked on 9/11/01? I was asleep, in preparation for going to work at 4:00 pm. Bonnie was awake and watching TV, and when I awoke and stumbled groggily up the hall, she met me with tears streaming down her face and the words "It's just like a Tom Clancy novel." We had read "Debt of Honor" a year or so before, and yes, it was just like a Tom Clancy novel. (I sometimes wonder what he thought, watching his book come to life.) It was damned hard to go to work that day.

This has been a thought-provoking and sometimes painful journey into the past. I doubt I will do this again.

Peace.