Where Were You?
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009I received a forwarded email from my mom yesterday, asking if I knew what the day was commemorating. I hadn’t a clue. I looked at the email and saw it was a conversation between my mom and her college roommate. I couldn’t help but smile as I read. My mom asked her friend if she remembered where they were on this particular day 40 years ago.
Her roommate had responded within minutes. They had been out on the town when they watched the first landing of a man on the moon! It was such a momentous occasion they could even remember the name of the bar they were in and exactly what they were doing.
I find the mind extraordinary when it comes to remembering certain facts and details, or even tastes from an extra-special meal. The older I get and the more I live through, the more times I get asked the question “Do you remember where you were when . . . ?”
It’s inevitable these questions come up at dinner parties or gatherings; and everyone, without exception, remembers exactly what they were doing. For example, where were you on 9/11? In that instance, all I have to do is close my eyes and that traumatic day relives itself in my head.
Another I have heard recounted is where people were when JFK was shot. From time to time I get asked what I was doing during the last big blackout — when we lost electricity across the entire East Coast in 2003. I was reading the newspaper in the square in front of the Plaza Hotel when all of sudden thousands of people surrounded me from all the neighboring offices.
I’m sure all of you have a detailed memory of these days and similar ones. I hope the next memorable occasion we recount is one of joy and not sorrow.
–Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher
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