Monday, July 20, 2009

When Neil was leaping, where were you?

It is all over the news today, it was 40 years ago today that Neil Armstrong spoke the words that will be forever remembered: “That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind".

So, do you know where you were, what you were doing, when he took that giant leap??

A few months ago the WO’s got chatting about recording feelings and where we were during the monumental happenings of our lifetime. Not necessarily marriages or births of our children, but of events in our lifetimes like Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon. We all agreed that to find such memories of our ancestors is a great genealogical find. As researchers we tend to get excited over letters and old diaries. Therefore, wouldn’t it be a good thing to leave these memories for our descendants to read? Record them in your database?

On July 20, 1969 Man was stationed in Washington DC at the Language Institute. Our first born was just 6 weeks old, in a few days I would celebrate my 21st birthday. Man’s parents had just driven me and infant Son #1 from Allen Park to Maryland to our apartment. It was hotter than hades, the apartment had no air conditioning, Man’s parents went out and bought us a huge floor fan. We sat in their hotel room, which WAS air conditioned and watched the landing, on a black and white television.

Simple memories, but like others I have chatted about here on the blog, clear, crystal clear memories, I can see us sitting in that hotel room, the hush, how we all held our breath in suspense, the awe.

So, where were you on July 20, 1969?


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