Where were you when...

[charliesmum]

_geekie_ Had an interesting post about today being the anniversary of the space shuttle blowing up with the teacher on board, and how clearly she remembers it since it was a part of her childhood. (read her post, very eloquent.)

It got me thinking about those moments, those 'where were you' moments, and which ones are strictly part of one's own generation. For example, my mother can tell you about what she was doing the day Kennedy was shot. (She had a date, they went out anyway only to find everything closed.)

I remember the day Ronald Regan was shot. I was in 8th grade. I remember watching the news and hearing that Jim Brady died, and I felt very sad about it, and was equally happy when they announced a few minutes later that he wasn't actually dead. His wife went on to be a big gun control advocate. I also remember when John Lennon was killed. Also while I was in Junior High.

However, if I had to pick just one thing, the event that really affected me was the Jonestown Suicide cult. I was 10, and it was probably the first real inkling I ever had that the world could be a very horrible place. It was everywhere, on the news, in magazines and newspapers, everywhere. Time Magazine had a photograph of a vat of cyanide-laced grape kool-aide surrounded by dead bodies. I still remember the nightmare I had because of that magazine. In my dream I was at my friend's house, who lived 5 doors down from me. Everyone in the neighborhood had a table set up in their driveway with a vat of kool-aide, and in my dream I drank some, and then walked home, thinking 'in 7 minutes I'm going to die.' It was not a good dream. And no, I have not been able to drink grape-juice since then. (It's Charlie's favorite drink at the moment, and I still have trouble looking at it. I do like red wine though. Go figure.)

So, that's my moment. What's yours?