1969

Was a hot Summer. A long Summer. I remember being in Dads Westfield Sewing Center when one of his teenage girl workers begged him to go home early so that she could get ready to leave for Woodstock.
I remember the whole hype and build-up on Tv and the newspapers to finally watch man land on the moon. I became so obsessed with that, collecting the photos (Life magazine was always the best) and buying the model of the Apollo 11. I spent endless hours putting it together, the glue and paint my first very young “high” (damn that stuff was strong back then)
I remember Glenn climbing the black railing on our front porch and falling. He broke his arm right in front of me. I thought that was strange because I didn’t hear anything “snap”
And the Mets, ahhhh, my first season as a fan. The magical Mets captivated me and Jim McSherry. We went up to his fathers room to watch every night game on WOR channel 9. Their miraculous climb to first place. When they made it to the World Series, the nuns stopped class and rolled in a TV so that we could watch a day game.
When you are living an era in your life, it can take many years later to look back on it and realize how special it was. All you can remember is the romance, the innocence, the smiles, and the music. I mean sometimes I just hear an old song and I am back there! Transported to that time, surrounded by all those old people in your life, and it is very powerful.
Who would know, 40 years later….the Summer of 1969; after Woodstock,
Man on the Moon, Miracle Mets, Dads Fabric store,
Student Jan Palach sets himself on fire in Prague’s Wenceslas Square to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This starts the “Vietnamization” of the war.
The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, wealthy Los Angeles businesspeople.
The Brady Bunch premieres on ABC and Monty Python soon follows in the BBC and the first Sesame Street a few months after that. Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The Altamont Free Concert is held at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. Hosted by the Rolling Stones, it is an attempt at a “Woodstock West” and is best known for the uproar of violence that occurred. It is viewed by many as the “end of the sixties.”