memories...
Posts are becoming less and less frequent. It just becomes such a chore and I find myself not wanting to disclose everything. Do I start from the beginning or just go from today on? I wonder if that's a sign of getting older, and dare I say...wiser? Keeping to oneself and whatnot.
I am sleeping less soundly as I once did, and I recognize the factor age has in this. I hope I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket but I seriously hope that when I get my nightguard it will curb a lot of the restlessness.
For some reason, lying in bed next to my impossibly passed out boyfriend...I kept thinking about all the milestones or memories etched in my head, the ones that all the old people used to say, "This is a moment that people will always ask where you were and what you were doing and you will always remember". You know, "where were you when JFK got shot?" kind of stuff.
I realized I have a few notches on my belt, and tried to categorize them in my head. Everyone has personal moments of grief or sheer joy but I tried to think of only events that affected everyone on a larger scale. Here's what I came up with. My ages and or dates may be wrong and I didn't feel like checking up and verifying so this is purely my recollection of events. And after all, don't we create our own reality? Hmmmmmmmm....
Challenger exploded- I couldn't have been more than 3 years old, but I remember coming around the living room corner (probably from a nap) and seeing my mom watching T.V. in the old recliner and crying. I vaguely remember seeing something on the television, but it was more my mother's reaction that affected me. At that young of an age, I couldn't grasp death and I don't believe it was used as a lesson in dying, but I knew that whatever caused my mom to feel sad probably wasn't good. I do remember the female civilian, because she was the only non-astronaut on board and I thought it was incredibly odd that she was a schoolteacher. It's interesting that at even such a young age I picked out the things I could most identify with.
Berlin wall collapsed- I remember being in elementary school (Google says I was in 3rd grade...DAMMIT I thought it was 5th...didn't I say I wouldn't do that!?). I remember my teacher telling us that it was a very important moment in history. Personally, I didn't understand how a wall would cause so much trouble. Couldn't they just walk around it? Perhaps my history teachings weren't all that informative. I remember not being as moved as my teacher was, most likely because I couldn't relate at all.
Persian Gulf War/Desert Storm- I distinctly remember playing with my GI Joe that was a Desert Storm edition, and gradually coming to the realization that he was a depiction of my present. Up until then, all my "war"-themed toys were either incredibly old (like my father's who had WWII figurines) or fantasy (like the rest of the GI Joe's I had, which were just a vague military theme in general) *no pun intended. I remember taking great care with my Desert Storm GI Joe, because he represented NOW. Again, I was so young I just remember a lot of people didn't think we should be fighting over there and it had something to do with oil.
OJ Simpson- I remember the chase in the white car on the highway that seemed to last all damn day. I remember not really knowing who OJ was, he looked kind of familiar...but thinking to myself he must be guilty if he's running away like that. As the trial of the century began, I really got exposed to all the news and political cartoons and sensationalism that made it a big mess...and a big deal. I remember sitting in Mrs. Torno's biology glass as a freshman in high school when the verdict was announced, and it caused a huge uproar. I don't remember my classmates' reaction as much as my teacher's, and my own. She looked very disappointed and shut off the T.V. quickly, and I felt really funny inside, like "How could they have decided THAT?"
More later....
I am sleeping less soundly as I once did, and I recognize the factor age has in this. I hope I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket but I seriously hope that when I get my nightguard it will curb a lot of the restlessness.
For some reason, lying in bed next to my impossibly passed out boyfriend...I kept thinking about all the milestones or memories etched in my head, the ones that all the old people used to say, "This is a moment that people will always ask where you were and what you were doing and you will always remember". You know, "where were you when JFK got shot?" kind of stuff.
I realized I have a few notches on my belt, and tried to categorize them in my head. Everyone has personal moments of grief or sheer joy but I tried to think of only events that affected everyone on a larger scale. Here's what I came up with. My ages and or dates may be wrong and I didn't feel like checking up and verifying so this is purely my recollection of events. And after all, don't we create our own reality? Hmmmmmmmm....
Challenger exploded- I couldn't have been more than 3 years old, but I remember coming around the living room corner (probably from a nap) and seeing my mom watching T.V. in the old recliner and crying. I vaguely remember seeing something on the television, but it was more my mother's reaction that affected me. At that young of an age, I couldn't grasp death and I don't believe it was used as a lesson in dying, but I knew that whatever caused my mom to feel sad probably wasn't good. I do remember the female civilian, because she was the only non-astronaut on board and I thought it was incredibly odd that she was a schoolteacher. It's interesting that at even such a young age I picked out the things I could most identify with.
Berlin wall collapsed- I remember being in elementary school (Google says I was in 3rd grade...DAMMIT I thought it was 5th...didn't I say I wouldn't do that!?). I remember my teacher telling us that it was a very important moment in history. Personally, I didn't understand how a wall would cause so much trouble. Couldn't they just walk around it? Perhaps my history teachings weren't all that informative. I remember not being as moved as my teacher was, most likely because I couldn't relate at all.
Persian Gulf War/Desert Storm- I distinctly remember playing with my GI Joe that was a Desert Storm edition, and gradually coming to the realization that he was a depiction of my present. Up until then, all my "war"-themed toys were either incredibly old (like my father's who had WWII figurines) or fantasy (like the rest of the GI Joe's I had, which were just a vague military theme in general) *no pun intended. I remember taking great care with my Desert Storm GI Joe, because he represented NOW. Again, I was so young I just remember a lot of people didn't think we should be fighting over there and it had something to do with oil.
OJ Simpson- I remember the chase in the white car on the highway that seemed to last all damn day. I remember not really knowing who OJ was, he looked kind of familiar...but thinking to myself he must be guilty if he's running away like that. As the trial of the century began, I really got exposed to all the news and political cartoons and sensationalism that made it a big mess...and a big deal. I remember sitting in Mrs. Torno's biology glass as a freshman in high school when the verdict was announced, and it caused a huge uproar. I don't remember my classmates' reaction as much as my teacher's, and my own. She looked very disappointed and shut off the T.V. quickly, and I felt really funny inside, like "How could they have decided THAT?"
More later....