Anyone is welcome to submit a Guest Blog Entry to torontomike.com. I received the following submission late last night.
I may seem like a pessimist with the following list - but my glass half empty & not half full. Here are the top 15 tragedies that have affected my life since 1960 when I was able to comprehend what LIFE was about.
- My father's passing - 06/26/91 & My mother's passing 02/18/05 - NUFF said. My kids never had grandparents on my side of the family & my wife's father passed away in 1990 at the age of 51 -1 1/2 years before they were born. Personal tragedy's with our family.
- 9/11 - Sept.11/01 - The WORLD changed forever. Our perception of LIVING changed that day & I will never ever forget seeing both towers collapse & the emotion WE all felt. 2A - London - 07-13/05 - Subway & Bus bombings. More to come.
- JFK assination - 11/22/63 - in grade 3 when the Principal tearfully told all over the PA system that the President is dead. 4 days of mourning & on live TV seeing Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby - still invisioned in my mind to this day.
- Oklahoma City Bombing - 04/19/95 - McMurrich Federal Bldg. bombed - one of the 1st major catastrophies CNN showed live minute by minute on TV.
- RFK assination - 06/05/68 - on national TV shot dead with former football player Rosie Greir holding Sirhan Sirhan down with a gun in his hand.
- Jamestown, Guyana - 11/18/78 - Jimmy Jones with his cult following drinking kool aid laced with poison & he shoots himself as an easy escape after murdering numerous on an airfield including a congressman trying to free the worshipers.
- Tsunami - 12/26/04 - Indian Ocean - STILL counting the victims. A Natural disaster with economic proportions & thousands of lives lost.
- Martin Luther King assination - 04/04/68 just before RFK was shot - DION sang it best with Abraham, Martin & John.
- Potomic River plane crash - Flight 90 - 01/13/82 - Live on TV watching survivors flaying away in icy cold water trying to survive with 2 people passing a cage from a hovering helicoptor to the next person in the water - these 2 people would perish after being too long in the cold water - a seen I will never forget.
- John Lennon assination - 12/08/80 - I purchased Double Fantasy earlier that SAME day & have the sales receipt to this day. How ironic. It was then I realized the Beatles would never get together again after all the hoopla earlier about how much it would take to get them back together. No such luck. The best band ever.
- Challenger disaster - 01/28/86 - 7 killed including a civilian teacher. When you talk about this, the conversation is about the teacher who perished & we all can relate to this (kids & parents).
- Charles Manson - 08/69 - He has fessed up to 39 killed with the most notable as the Tate/LaBianca murders.
- World Trade Centre - first bombing - elevators - 02/26/93 - the first sign of terrorism at WTC & Osama is initially behind the bombing - things to come.
- A Tie - Pres. Ronald Reagan & Pope John Paul assination attempts - Two of the most influential people in the world & luckily they survived to live long lives after their ordeals.
- SARS - 2003 - Because of our health care system we were not able to control this epidemic until it was too late due to lack of funding, etc. by our Gov't - Needless lives lost.
Dale
Having revisited the Challenger disaster in The Recurring Nightmare (Part 1 of 3), I've been thinking about such things as well. In fact, I'll post my top ten soon, which will include your #2, #4, #7, #11 and maybe your #15.
