There are some days, the date of which will always be significant. This morning, early on, we received some very sad news, some very, very sad news. Later, we received some news from a different source, exciting and happy news. Then we made a decision and started a ball rolling which will have a big impact on us and our lives – in a good way, I hasten to add! Now whenever we mention or anyone refers to any of those things we will always remember – “Oh it was also the day that we heard about…”
On a more universally significant date, the moment one learns about it becomes like a little memory clip and you know where you were and what you were doing, and who else shared that moment. The first such significant event for me was the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 2nd, 1963. My sister and I were in bed, reading before Mum came through to switch off our lights, and we were listening to something on the radio. My aunty had come round to visit and had brought a friend of hers; we children were in bed and the adults were in the sitting room of our small ground floor flat – Mum and Dad meeting my aunty’s fiancé for the first time. Suddenly, the programme we were listening to was interrupted – a very unusual occurrence, but the news the announcer gave was shocking! The President of the United States had been killed! We all knew of him, so handsome, so different from the grey-haired old men who ruled most countries, and his wife was so beautiful – like a Hollywood actress! My sister and I were horrified and then there was the debate – should we go and tell Mum and Dad? They had said they didn’t want to be disturbed, and we didn’t usually need to, but this awful news – what should we do? After a consultation, we decided that I should go through to the sitting room, and very politely knock on the door and tell Mum and Dad, which I did. Ever after that whenever I hear about the assassination, my thoughts immediately fly to the first time my parents met their new brother-in-law to be!
Another memory which is always triggered by a political event is being in the small staff-room at the Pupil Referral Unit where I worked for ten years. There were only three of us staff, plus two teaching assistants, the secretary and the head teacher. I’ve always been interested in the news, and it was a monumental day and I was watching the events on my computer. I was sitting in my chair and the two other staff and the TA’s were gathered round, equally mesmerised, tears running down our faces. It was the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. We – just five ordinary English people were so aware of being witnesses to the most joyful and optimistic event that we could remember! I have never forgotten that – which makes the frightening, disappointing, and appalling political situation in the so-called “United” States, so tragic.
Maybe because of the present situation, my significant memories which take me back not just to the event but the situation I was in – 9/11. My children were very young, seven and eight and I’d collected them from school. I think some parents had caught part of the news and had mentioned it as we waited in the playground for our children to come dashing out to us. When I got home, I put on the TV and at first (no doubt like many other people) I thought it was some horrific and realistic disaster movie. Oh that it had been! I wanted to grab my children and hold them close, wishing I had an air-raid shelter to dive into. I was hypnotised by the dreadfulness of it – wanted to look away, but feeling obliged not to. That shocking memory is associated with that everyday task of collecting the children, walking them home, preparing dinner – and whenever I think of doing that everyday part of a mum’s life, it’s more often those planes crashing, than the mundane saunter home, listening to their news, and thinking about what to have for dinner.
Lois Elsden 