65 Years
My Life As I Remember It
July 9, 1955 to present
1955- I am born in the summer and apparently it was very hot because my mother complained about that summer for the next 42 years of my life.
1956- Sharon is born, my parents' fourth child.. Shortly after I am born, Fidel Castro rises up, starts a revolution in Cuba, gains power and rules the country long after I retired. Now, that is one determined dictator,
1957- Chris is born, my parents' fifth child. The final episode of “I Love Lucy” aired on CBS. I never knew is as I watched this show all my life and as a kid, just assumed that I was watching current shows. My favorite show is the one where Lucy and Ethel are working at the candy factory and can't keep up with their workload so they have to stuff candies in their mouth. This scene is funny every time I see it.
1958- Khrushchev becomes the Premier of the Soviet Union. While I was too young at this time to understand who he was, I would hear his name in conversations for years and we would speak of him with distain and mistrust. He was our known enemy.
1959- Patricia is born, my parents' sixth child. Our small row home is really crowded now. There are 8 of us living in a three bedroom house with one bathroom, one small kitchen, living room and dining room and no back yard. We played in the alleyway with what seemed like hundreds of kids form the neighborhood.
1960- While other kids in my neighborhood go off to kindergarten, my mother does not enroll me. She thinks I am too small to start school. I wonder what height would have been acceptable to my mother.
1961- I start 1st grade at Saint Raymond's School in Philadelphia, PA. I start school with a basic understanding of my letters and numbers. I remember my dad coaching me on these concepts. But reading quickly becomes a disaster. I just can not grasp the concept of phonics. It would be another 20 years before I realize I am dyslexic.
1962- We move to Overbrook in West Philadelphia to a house with 7 bedrooms and a back yard. It had a front stairway and a back stairway. It was three stories tall. We had trees and flowers and a garden. I loved this new house.
1963- I am in third grade and sitting in the last row of seats in the classroom. An 8th grade girl comes in the class and tells the nun that Kennedy had been shot. The principal gets the PA system and announces that we should all go home and be with our families. I run home to tell my mother that the president has been shot. But my mother had already heard the news. She and Mrs Hunt were sitting in front of the Tv, crying and listening to the report that Kennedy was dead.
1964- The Beatles are on the Ed Sullivan Show for three straight Sunday nights in a row. I was mesmerized by them. And i have never seen the public so enamored with a musical group ever again in my lifetime. They are my favorite group. And when people tell me that they are just OK, I want to punch them.
1965- My grandparents give me my first album as a Christmas gift: The Beatles' Rubber Soul album. I still have this album. And I become a music kook.
1966- Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, declared himself a conscientious objector and refused to go to war. And most of us were confused . What kind of name is Muhammad Ali?
1967- My parents transfer me to an all girls', private, Catholic, academic high school right outside Philadelphia. I have been underperforming in school and they thought a new environment would be helpful to me. Now, I am drowning in this academic environment.
1968- Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated within two months of each other. There were riots in the streets. College students were protesting the war. It felt as if my country was at war.
1969- We had just had a family party and my parents gathered us around the kitchen table to tell us some big news. My mother was pregnant. She was 43 and she was going to have a baby in six months. It had been 11 years since the last time she gave birth. We are all shocked and I am stunned to figure out that my parents were having sex.
1970- Four college students are dead in Ohio. The police opened fire on student demonstrators in Kent, Ohio. At the time, I was in 9th grade and living in a Republican household that supported our Republican President, opposed the protests to the war and had an uncle who served three tours of duty in Viet Nam. I did not have the level of understanding of the atrocity that our own government would turn on its citizens. Fifty years later, I participate in protests against our police and institutional racism and am horrified to see our National guard called in by the president to turn on the American people.
1971- The Voting Age in the United States is lowered to 18 yrs old when the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified. I am so excited mohave this opportunity to vote.
1973- I graduated from high school which was a big moment for me in light fo the fact that I wanted to drop out of high school. I approached my mother first about the idea. We were in the grocery store. I asked her there because I knew she wouldn't make a scene. She stayed very calm and told me that I would have to discuss it with my father. I was so relieved to hear her response and really interrupted it as she was on my side. By the time my father got home from work, it was very obvious that she had called him and gave him a heads up because he came through the door ready to win the battle. He informed me that not only was I not dropping out of high school but that I was going to college. And so I graduated and matriculated in Brandywine Junior College in Wilmington, DE in the fall.
1974- Richard Nixon abruptly resigned his position of President of the United States. My father is one of the few remaining supports of this man. And I watch my father's disappointment as he watches the resignation on the television and realizes he was too loyal to this crook.
1975- John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman found guilty of Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail. The President's men to to jail and he walks free because Ford pardoned him. It didn't seem fair.
1976- It's the Bicentennnial year. Our country is 200 years old. And I turn 21 and I feel old. I feel like an adult even though I have no money, very few responsibilities, no bills to pay and I am living at my parents' house. In hindsight, I wonder what made me think I was so adult.
1977- I graduate from Penn State University with a BS in Counseling and I am filled with dread about stepping in to the adult world. I really found my niche in college and just wish it could go on for a few more years.
1978 - Egypt and Israel sign the Camp David Accords in an effort to secure peace between the two nations. This is a big event and Jimmy Carter eventually wins a Nobel Prize for peace for his efforts to bring these two leaders together.
1979- The Shah leaves Iran after year of turmoil and revolutionary forces under Muslim leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, take over. Iranian militants seize US embassy in Teheran and hold many American hostages . And this is probably the first time I understand the complexities and difficulties we have with the Middle East.
1980- I am sitting in a bar, on a snowy December evening with a friend. I notice that the TV screen above the bar announces an interruption. John Lennon had just been murdered. As I was leaving the bar that night, it was snowing heavily. It was dark, cold and silent. And so was I.
1981- I graduate from Penn State University with a Masters in Education in Secondary Counseling. I am off to become a high school guidance counselor. I land my first professional job as a high school guidance counselor at Loyalsock High School in Williamsport, PA. I loved, loved, loved that job.
1982- Michale Jackson releases the album Thriller. Every song was a hit. And now, almost 40 years later, every song is still a hit.
1983- My father is nominated by Ronald Regan to be a Federal Judge. It is a huge honor. There was a mixed up in trying to reach my dad so the president's secretary called the house, looking for a good phone number to reach my dad. As my sister and mother ran around the house, looking for his work number, I just stared at the phone and thought about what I would love to say to this jerk of a president.
1984- US Presidential Election Ronald Reagan (Republican) defeated Walter Mondale (Democratic). For the first time, I am interested in the elections and I did not vote for Reagan.
1985- The Philadelphia police dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto a MOVE's residence which causes an uncontrolled fire and as a result, 53 houses destroyed. The place looked like a war zone. MOVE was a radical group which terrorized its neighborhood. And after two years of conflict, the city took drastic, deadly action. My parents could hear the gun shots from their house. My mother said it was frightful. and so my father sat all night in the windowsill with his war rifle. And I thought we might have a small civil war in our city. But we didn't.
1987- The stock market took big dive this year but that had no effect on me because I didn't have any damn money.
1988- CDs outsell vinyl records for the first time. So now I have hundreds of albums, 45 record discs, 8 tracks, cassettes and CDs. I also have all of the electronic equipment to support these modes of music. I remember talking to my niece 20 years later. She was showing me her MP3 player. She had 2500 songs on her device. She had never purchased a single piece of music. And I was still housing all of this equipment to listen to the same volume of music.
1989- The Berlin Wall is taken down and the people of Berlin are free to travel outside their small world. In the fall, I have two exchange students from Germany enroll in my high school. One was from what was West Germany and one from what was East Germany. When I announced this to all the students and parents at our annual school meeting, the crowd cheered for them.
1990- The Cold War is over. Yugoslav Communists end 45-year monopoly of power. The Communist Party relinquish sole power in Soviet government which brings about the Dissolution of the USSR. I never thought I would see this much change of power in my lifetime.
1991- Police brutality is caught on tape during the arrest and beating of Rodney King and LA broke out in anger and riots. The rest of the urban areas in the country followed suit and our country is divided by race on the justice or injustice of this event.
1992 - Bill Clinton becomes U.S. president and it is the first time I like our president. But eventually, he, too, would be a disappointment. Eventually, Clinton is impeached for lying to a grand jury about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He lies about having oral sex with an intern. Why couldn't he just be honest?
1993- President Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act into law, requiring purchasers of handguns to pass a background check. This topic continues to be so damn controversial even as thousands of Americans die each year from gun violence.
1994- I am on sabbatical and have enrolled in a Semester At Sea program which takes college students around the world for a semester. I travel as an adult passenger, auditing classes. The ship disembarks from the Bahamas in January. We sail to Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, India, Malaysia, Japan, China and Hong Kong. We are on this ship for 110 days. The first day, the ship seemed so big. But it just got smaller and smaller and smaller as the trip progressed. But each port got larger and larger in culture, beauty, humanity, and good will. What a trip!!!!
1995- Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was slain by Jewish extremist at peace rally. Some people thought he was too soft on the Palestinians. In 2019, I go to the site where he was slain. There is a memorial for him. And there is still no peace in Palestine.
1996- The average price of a new car was $16,300 across the U.S. In 2016, that number hovers around $33,560. To date, I have never paid more than $15,000 for a car.
1997 - Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule in June. I am there in May and wonder how is change of power is ever going to work. Hong Kong is too western for the Chinese government.
1998- My mom dies after her 4 year battle with cancer. She weighed just 75 pounds when she died. She suffered with grace and gratitude. I admired her courage to call it quits and slip in to hospice. We all got to say our goodbyes and we cared for her until her last breath. I have no regrets about her death and I feel so damn lucky.
1999- Two teenage boys go on a rampage at Columbine High School killing 13 people and forever changing our views of school safety. We are numbed by this horrific act. But eventually, it will become too common and too easy for too many people and politicians to dismiss.
2000- The world braces for Y2K and nothing happens. It was a bit of a let down.
2001- September 11 (9/11) is the most difficult day of my career. How do I, as a principal of a high school, maintain order, education, safety and the dignity of our Muslim students during all of this chaos and fear.
2002 - The Beltway sniper attacks begin with five shootings taking place in Montgomery County, Maryland. I thought for sure that this was going to be our war on our soil. I thought we were going to see Al Qaeda snipers position themselves in every state and bring our whole country to its knees.
2003- We are at war in Iraq. We are going to war in another country. How many wars can we fight at one time?
2004- The CIA finally admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I hated Bush for this decision to go to war. how can we be so careless with all of these young lives who were sacrificed because of our fears of the Middle East.
2005- My dad dies. My mother had already died 7 year before. And now, both of my parents are gone. When I was younger, I thought I could never live without my parents. And now, I am just so relieved that neither of them is suffering from cancer anymore.
2006- Bill Gates offers to give every high school principal in the USA the new Palm Pilot. We can only accept this gift if we agree to take 5 afternoon sessions on how to use this tool to improve academic instruction. I sign up for the course and the gadget. As the last session is coming to a close, the instructor makes an announcement. She tells us she has good news and bad news. The good news: we have completed the coursework and the Palm Pilot is our to keep. The bad news: the Palm Pilot II is being released today. Some of our new skills are already obsolete.
2007- I went to Antarctic. One afternoon, we all leave the ship and get on inflatable zodiac boats and float around the bay just to watch the ice. And the ice was magnificent. And then I am frightened. At any moment, that ice could come cascading down on us, crushing us to death. This is a humbling moment.
2008- The first black president is elected in the USA. Prior to Obama's election, I thought we had thousands of racists in our country. Now it is evident that we have millions of bigots in our country.
2009 - US Airways Flight 1549 loses power in both engines shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia, forcing the pilot to ditch the aircraft in the Hudson River. And the whole world watches as this pilot safely lands the plane as best he could, on the water. All 155 passengers and crew are rescued with no casualties, and the pilot is hailed as a hero. I have watched this video over and over again and still marvel that this feat.
2010- I retired! I retired! I retired! Enough said.
2011- I get a call from a former student, asking if my captain's license allows me to preform weddings on land. I tell her that I don't have a captain's license; I have a boater's safety certificate. That detail didn't seem to deter her. She still wants me to officiate at her wedding on 9-10-11.
2012- I went to China for 12 weeks to teach leadership skills to young, college women. What an experience. I had never been around such large volume of people. They were all obedient, kind, trusting and complementary of their government. I have none of those qualities.
2013- I spend the summer in Haiti, running a voluntary Wellness Program with doctors from Christianna Hospital in Delaware. I have never been to a place as poor as Haiti. I am overwhelmed with the injustices these people have to suffer.
2014- I run for the State Senate in District #35 MD. There is no chance that I will win. But that doesn't matter to me. I welcome the challenge of the race.
2015 - I spend my 60th birthday on the Ganges River in India. I was hoping to spend a week and reflect on the meaning of life and death. I came back with no answers. But I do know that this river is one dirty river.
2016- OMG, OMG, OMG, what an awful outcome in the presidential election. We are screwed.
2017- My car had 243,000 miles on it. One night, it made a new, strange sound and that sound was just enough to spook me. I bought a new car the next day. My sister jokingly told me that I needed to take a road trip now that I had a dependable car. I told her I already had one planned. I got in my car and drove to Plains, GA to meet President Jimmy Carter. I also met his wife that day.
2018- I've read several books by Gerard Durrell. He wrote My Family and Other Animals and A Zoo in My Luggage and maybe 30 more books. His writings and his passion for animals always intrigued me. So I packed a bag and went to Jersey (UK) to visit his zoo. In his zoo, the people are in enclosed areas and the animals are roaming around with more freedom.
2019- Trump is impeached and while the senate didn't have the courage to do the right thing, I have the satisfaction of holding him accountable to some degree.
2020- Of course, the pandemic has been a challenge. But I am 65 now and I get medicare and a free pass on all of the transportation option in my area. So, life is good.
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