1969-Moon and American

1969, a year that changed the world or at least America. I’ve been watching a few movies that portray the moon landing and the days, weeks, months, and even the years leading up to that moment in time. Each movie, each article I’ve read, each photograph I looked at has moved me to tears. I have always said I was born in the wrong decade and this just continues to prove that right for me. In my lifetime I have never felt anything like the landing on the moon. I have never experienced our nation being one nation under a goal. I am sure there were people who didn’t feel patriotic, who didn’t agree with the moon landing, who thought it was fake, who just didn’t care, but from what I have seen and read they were in lower minority and their voices were drowned out by all those that cheered that momentous moment in time. 

I don’t think there will ever be another time, in my lifetime at least, that there will such a coming together of our nation as a whole nation and I find that very sad. I was in elementary school when the Challenger was set to launch with a normal everyday school aboard. I am sure people across the nation found it interesting but there wasn’t the coming together like there was in 1969. In fact, we as students were allowed to take time out to watch the Challenger launch since there was a teacher going to space, and we watched the entire thing but after it’s sad demise and the news broadcast, we went right back to doing classwork. We didn’t have therapy; we didn’t really discuss we just went about life as if nothing happened. From what I’ve researched about 1969, there was a lot of discussion, lessons taught, people coming together and talking about its years later at the local neighborhood BBQ.

As the division in our country grows stronger by the day, I am more and more saddened that we have nothing to bring us together as a nation. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want the threat of the Cold War, a nuclear war, any war at all, but still there doesn’t seem to be anything we can unit on. The closest thing is the Olympics but as soon as those are over, we move on and don’t think about them at all. Even then we are not united as a nation because a lot of people don’t care about that in the south the closest think, I can think of is football and being a fan of a specific university but that only last about as long as the season, then we move on That is the thing with America right now, we are always moving on. We move very quickly from one thing to another.

I don’t ever want to go back to the bad parts of the 1950’ and 1960’s, etc. Those times were terrible for our nation. I want the unifying parts of those decades, I want the type of memories of you can say I was here when a big thing took place, such as the sad death of JFK. I can’t think of one thing in my lifetime that is a I was there moment. Even when Ronald Regan had an assassination attempt on his life, I have no idea where I was, no one really talks about that. It’s mentioned in passing in history classes or here or there when discussing politics but it wasn’t as profound as events before. I realize there is always bad to counter the good, and I realize I can look at the past that I was never apart through rose-colored glasses because I didn’t experience it and I have no idea exactly how it was. I can question people, they can share their stories, but in no way can I fully understand. 

I feel today that bad is outshining the good of our nation at every turn, which I am sure that is how people from past decades felt too. Time and rose-colored glasses change the way later generations view the history and I am very sure that is what I am experiencing here with all I am consuming about a time I have no true knowledge of. I’m just looking for a way to try and remember why our nation is the greatest nation of all time, why we are a people that others look up to, and why this is the nation that people are still desperately trying to come to live out their dreams. I am sure I will never truly understand why this moment in time is so divisive and why we as a nation can’t seem to find even one ounce of common ground upon which to stand. All I know is that this is a great nation and I am thankful that I am an American.