For all my brain-wracking, I can't remember. I would have been old enough to remember the Challenger Explosion, after all, I was at an age when I was learning reading and simple math. In fact, I distinctly remember doing just that. I remember learning to read from a paperback red textbook, writing on worksheets, and playing in the snow. But I don't remember any news.
Perhaps that is the problem with youth. I was too myopic, too worried about myself to bother with the bigger picture. In fact, I'm quite sure I'm still not bothering as much with the bigger picture as I should. Is the sense of unreality, contributed by the television, the radio, the internet, too weak to unsettle my conscience?
Am I sorry that I don't remember? No, not really. It's enough that I know it happened. If someone kept a record, written or otherwise, of that day they experienced, I understand. However, I'm just irritated that people speak so authoritatively when they say they remember very clearly the day the shuttle exploded or when JFK was assassinated or when 9/11 occurred. How can that entire day be so crystal clear to them? I must have the worst memory in the world.
