Seeing History Happen

 

When I was eighteen years old, I worked in Center City, Philadelphia. One day on my lunch hour, I was shopping in Suburban Station Concourse and became aware of some commotion. People were sharing news that alarmed me. At that time, there was an AP office located in the concourse with the teletype machine visible at the window. So I hurried over there to see, and it turned out that it was true: President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, and was dead.

As I stood there reading the unbelievable words, the thought crossed my mind, "This is history. I am experiencing history. I probably won't have this happen again."

I was eighteen years old. I was young and naive.

And now, so many years later, I've been witness to many historical events, both good and bad: The Vietnam War, the other wars, the moon landing, Hillary's nomination, Barak's election, legalized abortion, legalized gay marriage, the elections of several Popes, the resignation of a U.S. President, come to mind*. And then there was what happened today: Incited by the President of the United States, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the election of the next President. The graphics spot at the top of the post is blank; I'm not about to give these thugs any more recognition. 

Two more weeks, people. Two more weeks.

*The list is not exhaustive.