Dillards 28: A Walk Down Memory Lane

[BrandoBarks]

My first news memory that I consciously remember was the murder of Jon Bennet Ramsey. I did not understand what happened but I remember seeing her picture, thinking how beautiful she looked, like a doll, and that she was more or less my age. Poor little girl :-(

[Scribber]

My first non-family memory is Baby Jessica in the well. It was 1987, so I was 5 and my mom would have been pregnant - I was terrified that my brand new baby cousin and my soon-to-be sibling would fall into wells too.

[ViolaSebastian]

My father has two brothers, of whom he is the oldest. Back when they were kids, they were playing on a trailer that they were told in no uncertain terms to stay off of, and the youngest brother fell and broke his arm. To save face, they made up a lie and told their mother it happened playing baseball. To this day, the two younger brothers swear that it happened playing baseball, while my father remembers it involving the trailer. 

[TeddyBonkers]

The earliest world news event that I can remember was Operation Desert Storm, and I was 10. Full disclosure-I had to look up if the Nancy Kerrigan thing was before or after it, because I remember that too.

[Fighter]

38 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Speaking of fake memories, I swear I remember this old church lady dying and going to her funeral, but apparently she is still alive and kicking. This came up when my mom mentioned visiting her and we got into a debate on if she had died. Clearly my mom won that one since she just visited her, but I remember going to her funeral! I must have mixed her up with another old church lady. 

The Susan Smith incident was terrible. It was awful thinking about what the last moments for those children were like. 

How can that woman live with herself after doing that? Susan Smith. Ugh!

[front hugs > duggs]

31 minutes ago, Jaedzia said:

*snipped*

We didn't have a TV in the house for most of the 70s. I was raised fundie lite. I was extremely sheltered in the 70s. 

Such an interesting thought- how much of these fundies know what's really going on in the world, moreso if they have no TV and very limited internet access. They probably don't get decent history education/exposure due to SOTDRT. But are they also limited in the current news events that are occurring? I can't imagine life without knowing the past and present.

I live in northern NJ and was 11 when 9/11 happened. People in our town went into New York as first responders, and some unfortunately didn't come back to our suburban towns. Most people around here have at least a handful of stories of someone they knew being affected. The absence of the towers in the city skyline felt very tangible. 

My in-laws are all English, and when they came here in October for our wedding, almost all of them visited the 9/11 Museum. While I completely understand why the museum exists (I have visited many Holocaust museums across the world), it's kind of weird to think of that day, and the days following, as being a museum exhibit. I don't think I'll ever go to the museum- not because I don't think it's informative or educational, especially for those who were not alive when it happened. I just feel like I lived it; we prayed, we mourned, and we came back bigger and stronger as a community. I'm not sure if I'm articulating this properly, it just seems kind of weird and surreal maybe sometimes to think of that day as a tourism attraction with a gift shop at the end of it.

[Mrs. Figg]

I also remember sitting in the library with my 2nd grade class watching the Challenger launch, then explode.   

[rainbowbabycakes]

2 hours ago, EmmyJay said:

My first real memory of a current event was the Columbine shooting, which was a big deal because I live in Colorado. My mom wasn't happy sending me too school for the next while. Mostly I'm miffed about it making a huge deal about bullying ( not that having ways to deal with bullying is a bad thing) because those two kids where horribly mentally ill and I wish they could've gotten real help.

People I've talked to who were in high school at the time vs young elementary like I was, often talked about schools becoming ridiculous towards anyone who was in anyway alternative.

I was a sophomore when Columbine happened. They banned wearing trench coats, and that's when we started to do active shooter/lock down drills, by other than that, I don't remember a huge change.

I was born in November of 82.... I remember baby Jessica, I remember Waco, Princess Diana's death, OJ, and a bunch of these others mentioned.
I think my first "where were you" memory was 9/11... I was just out of high school, and getting ready for work when my mom called me. My ex husband (then boyfriend) was still a senior, and came home early. All the senior guys were worried about a draft. I worked in an ice cream store, and my idiot boss made me come to work and open the store anyway... Nobody went to the mall that day.

[Jaedzia]

17 minutes ago, front hugs > duggs said:

Such an interesting thought- how much of these fundies know what's really going on in the world, moreso if they have no TV and very limited internet access. They probably don't get decent history education/exposure due to SOTDRT. But are they also limited in the current news events that are occurring? I can't imagine life without knowing the past and present.

My father still received the newspaper. He and my mother knew what was going on but we children did not especially me as I am 12 and 7 years behind my brother and sister. 

[Chicken bones]

I remember the 1980 Olympic boycott and the 1980 election probably as the first big events of memory. I was in class watching when Challenger exploded; i was driving to work listening to Dan Rather (i am pretty sure) narrating the second plane hitting the towers on 9/11. 

I enjoy hearing the non-North American memories. Some of the things i recall, others are giving me some good history lessons.

[Yomoaw]

1 hour ago, season of life said:

I'm 19 going on 20 in October and it's so difficult to relate to people reliving their memories during the OJ trial or the deaths of significant political figures because I was not around. I can only read about the reactions through other people or the news. 

Personally I am weirded out by the idea that there are kids who were born AFTER 9/11 and were not alive when it happened. 

I remember the OJ trial going on, but I was young enough that I had never heard about him before. It's bizarre to me to think of him as a sports superstar and not a murderer.

That might be my earliest news story I remember. JonBenet Ramsey's murder sticks out too. It happened a few days after my 7th birthday, and mostly I remember my mom being heartbroken that she would never make it to another birthday, and following the story closely. Coincidentally, I ended up going to undergrad with her brother (didn't know him personally).

[Jinder Roles]

Just turned 21 a week ago...my first news memory was 9/11. I distinctly remember the image of the 2nd plane flying to the second tower and all the smoke. I'm not even American, but it was a big deal everywhere. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

58 minutes ago, front hugs > duggs said:

snipped

My in-laws are all English, and when they came here in October for our wedding, almost all of them visited the 9/11 Museum. While I completely understand why the museum exists (I have visited many Holocaust museums across the world), it's kind of weird to think of that day, and the days following, as being a museum exhibit. I don't think I'll ever go to the museum- not because I don't think it's informative or educational, especially for those who were not alive when it happened. I just feel like I lived it; we prayed, we mourned, and we came back bigger and stronger as a community. I'm not sure if I'm articulating this properly, it just seems kind of weird and surreal maybe sometimes to think of that day as a tourism attraction with a gift shop at the end of it.

That reminds me of when there was some talk of making an official holiday to recognize 9/11. The best argument that I've heard against making 9/11 a federal holiday was made by a family member of one of the victims. They said that they didn't want that day to end up being a 3 day weekend with mattress sales and furniture sales, like Labor Day and Memorial Day. I get that.

[PennySycamore]

All this talk about figure skating brought up that I can remember when the plane carrying the entire US figure skating team crashed on the way to the 1961 Worlds in Prague.  The crash occurred on February 15, 1961.  People thought it would take years for the US team to recover, but Peggy Fleming won the both the World and Olympic titles by 1968.  

Sabena Flight 548

Here is Laurence Owen, the US Ladies champ skating:

 

And a link to some footage from the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley with footage of Laurence, her mother and coach Maribel Vinson Owen, sister Maribel Owen who would win the US Pairs in '61 and the girls' grandmother.

1960 Winter Olympics figure skating with rare footage of Vinson-Owen family

[elliha]

I remember the hockey match at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and my dad being into it. I had to google it and that seems correct as Sweden won the gold. I have a vague memory of the bomb in Atlanta and Muhammed Ali lighting the torch (my dad was an Ali fan so I am sure he strengthen that memory by talking about him and so on) but remember nothing of the actual sports. The first Olympics that I really followed and watched as much as I can was the Sidney Olympics and that is also my favorite Olympics. 

[sta_sha]

4 hours ago, FJismyheadship said:

The first news story I remember was a mother killing her children.

Are you maybe thinking of Susan Smith? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Smith

 

[General Jinjur]

2 hours ago, Mrs. Figg said:

I also remember sitting in the library with my 2nd grade class watching the Challenger launch, then explode.   

I was in 2nd grade too. After that, I no longer wanted to be an astronaut.

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, Jinder Roles said:

I'm not even American, but it was a big deal everywhere. 

Yes, it was a world wide tragedy and the biggest loss of lives in a terrorist attack in history.  It is also worth remembering that not everyone who died was American.  Excluding the terorists, 77 nations lost citizens that day.

After the July 7, 2005 London attacks a total stranger heard my still very British accent and kindly expressed sympathy.  It was a pity she followed it up with something like, "Perhaps you Europeans will now understand about terrorist attacks like 9/11."

Luckily Mr. P was with me, because he snapped "Leave it, Palimpsest!" put a leash on my collar, and dragged me away.  It is was as if she had no idea that there were any terrorist groups or bombings prior to 9/11.  She was middle aged, and I am being generous.

 

[Incognito22]

Does anyone remember the Punky Brewster episode after the Challenger explosion?  I so wanted to be Punky.  I even tried to rename our female golden retriever "Brandon".  Anyway, she wanted to be an astronaut and her class saw the explosion live.  Punky was upset so Buzz Aldren came to visit her.  Between that and her cool horse cart bed that kid was lucky!

[obiwanfreak]

I was born in 1985 and I vaguely remember news coverage of the first Gulf War. I know my dad was very interested in it and I was a little peeved that he wanted to watch the news when I wanted to watch cartoons. I very clearly remember the Oklahoma City bombing and that my mom was very sad about it.  9/11 will always be my "where were you" moment and it's still vivid in my mind to this day.

[GreyhoundFan]

3 hours ago, LawsonBatesEgo said:

My birthday is September 12, but with the time difference in Australia, it means September 11 commemorations are usually all over the news. I've actually had people tell me I shouldn't celebrate my birthday because it is disrespectful. It annoys me because you can be aware of something sad that has happened, but at the end of the day, as blunt as it sounds, life goes on. You can pull up something bad that happened on every day of the year, September 11 is just (rightfully but still) a very well known one. You can't let it stop people continuing to live their lives. 

Wow, I can't believe people would say that to you. Why shouldn't you celebrate your birthday? The Berlin Wall fell on my birthday (I was an adult), but that doesn't mean I should celebrate my birthday any more or any less than people with other birthdays.

[BabyBottlePop]

3 hours ago, Fighter said:

How can that woman live with herself after doing that? Susan Smith. Ugh!

We watched footage of her during a Body Language class I had in college. She apparently was interviewed a lot by the news media when they still thought her kids had been taken by a carjacker. She showed signs of deception in her body language and mannerisms.

[Fighter]

I'm sure she did. I remember watching the television hoping that those little boys  would be brought home safely. I remember her crying, I then remember feeling angry at her after I heard that she did this to them. 

[CharlieInCharge]

My first news-related memory is walking into my school office for some reason and finding all the teachers, principal and staff gathered around a small T.V. watching the first response to the Oklahoma City bombing. I was shocked because no one noticed me for several minutes and I stood watching the footage. It was awful. 

[socalrules]

I was a teenager during the Susan Smith time. I remember my mother saying right away that she did it. My mother was convinced no mother would so easily allow a stranger to drive off with her kids and not be injured trying to stop them. 

I remember thinking she did it from the beginning because she just didn't seem very distressed. Her husband was so upset and looked like he was about to collapse but she always looked like she was faking her crying and couldn't conjure up any tears.