Fifty Years - A Time to Reflect

As I sit here and dictate this I am totally incredulous at the fact that 50 years have passed since the assassination of Pres. Kennedy. For people of my age group i.e. early baby boomers, Kennedy’s murder remains the most traumatic event of our lives played out on the national stage, 9/11 notwithstanding. Volumes have been written about Kennedy, some lauding him, some less complementary. But this blog is not about Kennedy, it’s about the 50 years which have elapsed between the date of his death and today.

Fifty years, a half century, a generation and one half – it’s a long time in the context of one life no matter how you describe it. My parents, grandparents and all my aunts and uncles save one passed away. Over 30 people with whom I was acquainted to a greater or lesser extent and each of whom were younger than me have also died. But I also have two lovely daughters and one totally awesome grandson.

The world and country which existed 50 years ago has changed so dramatically that I don’t know where to begin. The civil rights movement, four wars, the moon landing, 9/11, two stock market crashes and numerous real estate cycles, climate change, the Internet, computers, cell phones and electronics everywhere, the AIDS epidemic, the fall of Communism and the rise of political Islam, the ascendancy of China as a world power, I could go on and on.

So what am I to make of it all? What am I to say? It seems as if it has all sort of happened around me or to me, but without me taking control or even an active role. Was I too complacent? Was I too conservative? Did I have too little confidence in my own abilities to change the course of my life or to make some little impact on the future of the country? It’s really a time for reflection for some of us.