Saturday, January 22, 2005
JANUARY.....1986
After a busy December it is always nice to fall back and regroup in January. It’s a good time to organize the year ahead after reviewing the past one. Sort of a mile-marker, if you will. One way for me to do that is to catch a little R&R watching football wind down with the playoffs while I crochet or knit. Observing two teams knocking themselves silly trying to win a game puts my real life in prospective. Thus, plans are made for the year ahead. What is important, what is not.
It was on this first day of January that a news bulletin flashed Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash the night before while homeward bound after a New Years Eve gig. A private plane was involved, killing all aboard. Ricky, attempting to make a comeback, was 45-years old. My mind raced back to a stage door at the Orpheum Theater in Omaha, NE. I was in the 8th grade and a girlfriend, Marilyn Anderson (no relation….my maiden name was spelled with an “en”) talked me into going down town on a street car to get autographs of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson who, with their band, were performing there at a matinee. We were stage struck little girls who were very impressed with big bands and movie stars.
As the years evolved, I watched them in “The Nelsons” which Ozzie, wrote, directed and starred in. It was as ‘home town’ and apple pie as you could get and boy, do I wish we had good, clean shows like that to view now. We watched him grow up, get married and ride a popular wave before his downward spiral. Drugs were the demon that entered his life and robbed him of anything worthwhile, finally taking his life. It was a public loss for fans but a very personal loss to the family. I don’t think the Nelsons were ever able to get over the tragedy.
As for football that year, the Bears shut the Rams out 24-0, and the Patriots beat the Dolphins. The Super Bowl was played in New Orleans at the Super Dome with the Chicago Bears winning over the Patriots by a large margin. It was a thrill for Warren to see his team win the Super Bowl. He loved the Bears.
On the 28th of January we had another tragedy that affected the whole country. The 25th Space Shuttle was to be launched in late morning but a malfunction blew it apart shortly after lift off, before it was able to get into orbit. I was off work that day and while we watched in horror, we saw explosions and huge trails of exhaust with pieces being torn from the Shuttle. The excitement in the stands where the families watched soon turned to concern, then fear, as they knew something was very wrong with the launch. Television stations had been broadcasting information of the flight for days because it was the first time a civilian, a teacher, was along to give her class on earth detailed information of her experience. It was not to be. Christa McAuliffe’s life ended with all six of the other crew members.
Classrooms around the country watched the Shuttle break up and begin falling back to earth. The announcers who had been routinely describing the launch tried to keep the anxiety from their voices but gave way to their own concern to authenticate what we were watching. We had been so successful with our Space Programs it was unthinkable that such a disaster could happen. Yet we were all spectators of the impossible.
The month ended quietly and the whole country was quiet…. as if contemplating the next move after such a major disaster. Sickness and foul weather kept most people indoors as Nature had her way with the elements…. but no one seemed to care. It was a time of sorrow and respect for those lost on the Challenger.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
It was on this first day of January that a news bulletin flashed Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash the night before while homeward bound after a New Years Eve gig. A private plane was involved, killing all aboard. Ricky, attempting to make a comeback, was 45-years old. My mind raced back to a stage door at the Orpheum Theater in Omaha, NE. I was in the 8th grade and a girlfriend, Marilyn Anderson (no relation….my maiden name was spelled with an “en”) talked me into going down town on a street car to get autographs of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson who, with their band, were performing there at a matinee. We were stage struck little girls who were very impressed with big bands and movie stars.
As the years evolved, I watched them in “The Nelsons” which Ozzie, wrote, directed and starred in. It was as ‘home town’ and apple pie as you could get and boy, do I wish we had good, clean shows like that to view now. We watched him grow up, get married and ride a popular wave before his downward spiral. Drugs were the demon that entered his life and robbed him of anything worthwhile, finally taking his life. It was a public loss for fans but a very personal loss to the family. I don’t think the Nelsons were ever able to get over the tragedy.
As for football that year, the Bears shut the Rams out 24-0, and the Patriots beat the Dolphins. The Super Bowl was played in New Orleans at the Super Dome with the Chicago Bears winning over the Patriots by a large margin. It was a thrill for Warren to see his team win the Super Bowl. He loved the Bears.
On the 28th of January we had another tragedy that affected the whole country. The 25th Space Shuttle was to be launched in late morning but a malfunction blew it apart shortly after lift off, before it was able to get into orbit. I was off work that day and while we watched in horror, we saw explosions and huge trails of exhaust with pieces being torn from the Shuttle. The excitement in the stands where the families watched soon turned to concern, then fear, as they knew something was very wrong with the launch. Television stations had been broadcasting information of the flight for days because it was the first time a civilian, a teacher, was along to give her class on earth detailed information of her experience. It was not to be. Christa McAuliffe’s life ended with all six of the other crew members.
Classrooms around the country watched the Shuttle break up and begin falling back to earth. The announcers who had been routinely describing the launch tried to keep the anxiety from their voices but gave way to their own concern to authenticate what we were watching. We had been so successful with our Space Programs it was unthinkable that such a disaster could happen. Yet we were all spectators of the impossible.
The month ended quietly and the whole country was quiet…. as if contemplating the next move after such a major disaster. Sickness and foul weather kept most people indoors as Nature had her way with the elements…. but no one seemed to care. It was a time of sorrow and respect for those lost on the Challenger.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
