Forty years ago today, July 20th, 1969, I was 11 years old. Like most 11 year olds both then and now, I was only slightly aware of my surroundings, and even less aware of the political and social achievements of our society.
And so it was on this day I was sitting with my family in Fenway Park watching the Red Sox play the Orioles in an afternoon game. Sometime in the middle of the 4th inning, the announcer said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Apollo 11 crew has landed on the surface of the moon". 34,000 people...plus the 9 players on the field at the time... stood in unison and cheered for more than 5 minutes. It was as if the Red Sox had actually won a World Series, but even I - age 11 - knew that was never going to happen. As the wave of applause died down and play was about to resume, one of the most surreal things I've ever experienced then or now happened:
About 10 rows behind and 14 or 15 seats to my right, a man stood up with one of those long red plastic horns that were the rage in the 60's and proceeded to play "God Bless America" on it. Incredibly, all 34,000 + sat in reverent silence while he belted out that song, not one person in the entire stadium daring to move, speak, or even make a sound. It was my first .... and obviously impactful ... notice that when the USA wants to pull it together as one, they can.
And they will again.
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3 comments:
I long for days like those...
I hope they will come again, and that we will be united by a profound victory and not a national tragedy. Now days it seems like only a death, or attacks on US soil make us collectively pause as a nation.
It's been a long time since I've felt something to rejoice about on a national level.
Beautiful story... thank you for posting it~
In a related story, today the space shuttle crew had to repair a broken commode on the space station. I guess you could say "that's one small pump for man...one giant flush for mankind"
Lol-
you are BAD!!! :)
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