I was born in 1961 and grew up with the following question “Where were you when you found out they shot John Kennedy”? This has been since referred to as “The end of Camelot.” I think every generation has a similar question. Buddy Holly,Richie Valens and the Big Bopper all died in a plane crash that was so significant at the time it prompted Don McClean to write “American Pie” in which he called it the Day the music died. For our generation those 30 years and older we remember the event we refer to as 9/11. Many of us that remember this day also might recall the disbelief we first experienced when we saw the event taking place on television. This was quickly followed by the anger we felt, and the accompanying sense of vulnerability. My parents experienced a like event in World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Why do we tie such significance to some events and not others?

Maybe when we look back we feel as though some of our innocence has been lost? Could it be we become aware the world is not the way we want it to be? Perhaps afterwords we realize things are no longer the same and possibly never will be again. I remember the day I found out my Dad had Colon Cancer. I was 23 years old and stationed in Tustin California with the Marine Corps. I remember going for a run that morning and realizing life was about to change. The resistance to change can become more prevalent as we age. I have a catalogue of such dates of change that reside in my memory, yet the world moves on. Life continues even if the colors are a little less bright.

In conclusion, we all have “Where were you” days stashed in our memory. It is the things that we do after such an event that shapes who we become for the future. Do not let an event define you, let it refine you. Everyone has something to contribute to the world. Maybe, the next “Where were you” will be a significant contribution you made to your family, community, country or even the world. Where were you when…