- Oct 10, 1999
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I remember as a kid, growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Listening to my father and Grandfather alike, tell stories of events they witnessed in places like Franklin Field, Connie Mack Stadium and the like. They'd talk of Wilt Chamberlain in his days in Philadelphia, or Ritchie Ashburn(affectonately known in my household for years as "itchy ass-burn" until I was ld enough to look up his real name for myself) & Phillies Whiz Kids Team." I used to wonder what it was like in "their" time. To see the places they'd seen when they were my age, and to live in the time period they did. Now as I get older, I find correlation to events, places and things in my time that I tell my nephews and nieces about. Some as young as four, others as old as nine. They arent old enough to know about people like Michael Jordan, or Wayne Gretzky. They're just old enough to enjoy one last hurrah at a Phillies game in Veterans Stadium. (Whether they remember it or not remains to be seen.) I can remember the bicentennial celebration here in the city in July of 1976. (We sat on the roof of an aunts townhouse in South Philly to watch the fireworks down at Penns Landing. I remember the Flyers winning the Stanley Cup, but wasnt really into Ice Hockey as much as I am now, so all I really remember was the celebration that followed the event. I was old enough to remember and enjoy, the Phillies winning the World Series and the Sixers winning the NBA Championship. (I took the day off from school on each of the parade days to be at the parades for the winning clubs. I watched as the Eagles lost the the Super Bowl. (To a Raiders team most here in Philly say wasnt as good as the Eagles that season....of course to try and argue the point will label you a trader.)
They were lucky enough not to witness or understand for that matter, September 11th. As a kid I could remember pestering my grandfather about what it was like for him, when December 7th, 1941 rolled around. How he felt on that day, what the atmosphere was like, and how they dealt with it. Unfortuneatly I got to feel it for myself as I sat in awed sadness and watched angrily, yet helplessly as people burned, choked, or fell to their deaths in New York. I immediately felt the patriotism well up inside, and in the days that followed I asked what I could do to help, and did it. Giving blood, donating time and effort to raise funds for local fire crews sent up to help in the rescue and excavation efforts. As time passed, I watched things, people, and my neighborhood, change in ways that the next generation wouldnt know about, without our generation to tell or help them remember or see. Seeing so much as the time goes by, its funny how when you look at the events that have come and gone in your time, how closely some resemble events of the past. Though everything does change, it still stays the same.
~wnied~
(35 going on a spry 99)
They were lucky enough not to witness or understand for that matter, September 11th. As a kid I could remember pestering my grandfather about what it was like for him, when December 7th, 1941 rolled around. How he felt on that day, what the atmosphere was like, and how they dealt with it. Unfortuneatly I got to feel it for myself as I sat in awed sadness and watched angrily, yet helplessly as people burned, choked, or fell to their deaths in New York. I immediately felt the patriotism well up inside, and in the days that followed I asked what I could do to help, and did it. Giving blood, donating time and effort to raise funds for local fire crews sent up to help in the rescue and excavation efforts. As time passed, I watched things, people, and my neighborhood, change in ways that the next generation wouldnt know about, without our generation to tell or help them remember or see. Seeing so much as the time goes by, its funny how when you look at the events that have come and gone in your time, how closely some resemble events of the past. Though everything does change, it still stays the same.
~wnied~
(35 going on a spry 99)
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