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ENLARGE
Mrs. O’Leary, the principal of the Eastondale School, came into our fourth-grade classroom just as Arthur Norcross leaned over in his seat and made a farting noise with his mouth. The class went wild until we all saw the school’s principal standing in the doorway; she was crying.
Normally, leaning over in your seat and making a farting noise with you mouth was grounds for serious punishment; the principal didn’t seem to notice. Rather, she used a tissue to dab her eyes and said: “You children need to go home now, go straight home, our president, John Kennedy, was just killed.”
I remember feeling guilty later, because my first thought was not of our fallen leader but, rather, how lucky Artie Norcross was that Mrs. O’Leary was so distracted.
When I arrived home to find my mother sitting at our kitchen table crying, the gravity of the event hit me. I forget what my Mum said to me about the assassination, but I remember she told me to “go play outside.”
I went to a nearby vacant lot, climbed a tree and cried.
I don’t think I’m alone with my vivid recollection on that day in November 1963 when JFK was killed. I would imagine most Americans old enough have a similar recall of that day. I also have a lesser, but still pretty vivid, recollections of where I was and what I was doing when MLK and RFK were shot and when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon; I’ll remember those days as long as I live.
I also am quite certain I’ll recall where I was and what I was doing when Barack Obama became our 44th president.
I was driving through the San Luis Valley on a cold, clear day as wispy clouds hung like garland over the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. We had spent a few days skiing in Southern Colorado and planned our drive home around good radio reception. From Crestone to Poncha Pass we heard everything — beginning with Aretha Franklin’s rendition of “My Country Tis of Thee” to Obama’s speech and the benediction by the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
When it was over, our nation had a seated president who, 40 years ago, would have been made to sit in the back of a public bus; that is how far our country has evolved.
I don’t remember ever being more proud to be an American.
There is already a conservative backlash concerning Obama’s cult-like popularity and the public’s confidence in his thus-far untested potential. Please forgive me for being hopeful. I feel sorry for any American who, due to partisan blindness, cannot recognize the gravity of this event.
I don’t know what kind of leader Obama will turn out to be. What I do know is, more than any time in my lifetime, we need an inspired leader.
My excitement over the election of Obama has a lot to do with pride about the unlimited personal potential that exists in this country. The fact that, in my lifetime I have seen our nation go from one of state-sanctioned segregation to an African American president is a vivid reflection of this country’s greatness. (I would feel the same way if it were Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice or any black Republican elected.)
Though I felt Obama’s inaugural address was beautiful and inspired, simply being a good public speaker doesn’t guarantee a person to be a great leader or particularly astute. I know this to be true, because I am a good public speaker.
But there is no denying our new leader’s personal history reflects what is right about America. From poverty, raised by a single mother on welfare, this man went to attend and excel at the best colleges in the world and, rather than use his education for personal wealth, he chose to become a community organizer and public servant — eventually to become the most powerful leader in the free world. Is this even a possibility in any other country?
Whether Obama goes on to be a historically recognized great president or leaves office with the public approval numbers as low as Saddam Hussein’s (mid-20s) one lasting legacy of his might be his request for public participation and citizen sacrifice. In other words, a country is only as strong and resilient as is its citizens’ willingness to occasionally place their own needs behind the needs of a nation.
There are days that shape a generation. I believe January 20, 2009 is one of those days. My mate and I listened to the festivities as tears of hope rolled down our cheeks. When it was all over and we lost reception as final punctuation, I leaned over in my seat and made the farting noise with my mouth. Artie Norcross would have been so proud.
Jeffrey Bergeron, under the alias of Biff America, can be seen on RSN TV and read in several newspapers and magazines. He can be reached at biffbreck@yahoo.com. Biff’s book “Steep, Deep and Dyslexic” is available from local book stores or from www.webersbook.com
Normally, leaning over in your seat and making a farting noise with you mouth was grounds for serious punishment; the principal didn’t seem to notice. Rather, she used a tissue to dab her eyes and said: “You children need to go home now, go straight home, our president, John Kennedy, was just killed.”
I remember feeling guilty later, because my first thought was not of our fallen leader but, rather, how lucky Artie Norcross was that Mrs. O’Leary was so distracted.
When I arrived home to find my mother sitting at our kitchen table crying, the gravity of the event hit me. I forget what my Mum said to me about the assassination, but I remember she told me to “go play outside.”
I went to a nearby vacant lot, climbed a tree and cried.
I don’t think I’m alone with my vivid recollection on that day in November 1963 when JFK was killed. I would imagine most Americans old enough have a similar recall of that day. I also have a lesser, but still pretty vivid, recollections of where I was and what I was doing when MLK and RFK were shot and when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon; I’ll remember those days as long as I live.
I also am quite certain I’ll recall where I was and what I was doing when Barack Obama became our 44th president.
I was driving through the San Luis Valley on a cold, clear day as wispy clouds hung like garland over the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. We had spent a few days skiing in Southern Colorado and planned our drive home around good radio reception. From Crestone to Poncha Pass we heard everything — beginning with Aretha Franklin’s rendition of “My Country Tis of Thee” to Obama’s speech and the benediction by the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
When it was over, our nation had a seated president who, 40 years ago, would have been made to sit in the back of a public bus; that is how far our country has evolved.
I don’t remember ever being more proud to be an American.
There is already a conservative backlash concerning Obama’s cult-like popularity and the public’s confidence in his thus-far untested potential. Please forgive me for being hopeful. I feel sorry for any American who, due to partisan blindness, cannot recognize the gravity of this event.
I don’t know what kind of leader Obama will turn out to be. What I do know is, more than any time in my lifetime, we need an inspired leader.
My excitement over the election of Obama has a lot to do with pride about the unlimited personal potential that exists in this country. The fact that, in my lifetime I have seen our nation go from one of state-sanctioned segregation to an African American president is a vivid reflection of this country’s greatness. (I would feel the same way if it were Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice or any black Republican elected.)
Though I felt Obama’s inaugural address was beautiful and inspired, simply being a good public speaker doesn’t guarantee a person to be a great leader or particularly astute. I know this to be true, because I am a good public speaker.
But there is no denying our new leader’s personal history reflects what is right about America. From poverty, raised by a single mother on welfare, this man went to attend and excel at the best colleges in the world and, rather than use his education for personal wealth, he chose to become a community organizer and public servant — eventually to become the most powerful leader in the free world. Is this even a possibility in any other country?
Whether Obama goes on to be a historically recognized great president or leaves office with the public approval numbers as low as Saddam Hussein’s (mid-20s) one lasting legacy of his might be his request for public participation and citizen sacrifice. In other words, a country is only as strong and resilient as is its citizens’ willingness to occasionally place their own needs behind the needs of a nation.
There are days that shape a generation. I believe January 20, 2009 is one of those days. My mate and I listened to the festivities as tears of hope rolled down our cheeks. When it was all over and we lost reception as final punctuation, I leaned over in my seat and made the farting noise with my mouth. Artie Norcross would have been so proud.
Jeffrey Bergeron, under the alias of Biff America, can be seen on RSN TV and read in several newspapers and magazines. He can be reached at biffbreck@yahoo.com. Biff’s book “Steep, Deep and Dyslexic” is available from local book stores or from www.webersbook.com
