Merrick here...
I once had a university instructor who worked in an important government position during the Cuban Missile Crisis - which is, as far as we know, the closest the United States has ever come to nuclear war.
He recounted the vibe in Washington D.C. during the crisis - talked about the terrors which plagued him as he struggled to sleep at night - unsure whether he , or those he loved, would ever wake up again. He told us what it felt like to lay in bed...in a room whose formally comforting darkness now seemed abyssal and lonely...wondering what the world would be like if he did wake up. One particularly tortured night he dared to postulate that if the worst of the worst did happen, untold millions of people would fare better if they never woke up at all.
I can still remember the change in my instructor's demeanor, and vividly recall sensing his precarious mastering of emotions that clearly remained raw despite the passing of so much time. And even though those dark days were long, long past for this man - it wasn't hard to conjure how such uncertain times would rip a whole through someone's existence. After all, a bad car accident is enough to give someone the shakes for life...even when it's walked away from. Imagine the impact of locking eyes with The End of all Things.
This one discussion was the most defining moment of my higher education (with the possible exception of a girl called Lisa) - it taught me more about life, our world, and how to perceive and relate to both than all other coursework combined.
Which makes the clip below resonate with me quite strongly.
It's from a 2 hour ABC special called Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words which airs tomorrow night (September 13) at 9ET. The show brings us the "oral history" of Jacqueline Kennedy - which she recorded four months or so after JFK's assassination. The audios were sealed by The Kennedy Library until recently, and were released for inclusion in THIS book/CD set.
Fascinating stuff from years that are very important to remember. Check it out.
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