It’s been fifty years.
I missed my high school reunion this year, but I received the directory of classmates that the reunion committee put together. Near the back, someone had summarized the major events of our senior year: “1968 in the United States was marked by several major historical events. It is often considered to be one of the most turbulent years of the 20th century.”
I went back to 1968 for a writing project a few years ago. To do this, I used memory, but I also researched the year, adding some of the events to my story. When I looked back, I realized 1968 and 2018 seemed like they had much in common. Both years are full of turmoil. Can this year be worse than that violent year fifty years ago?
Patrick J. Buchanan posted an article asking the question Is this worse than 1968? Read it for a good overview of the time. At the end of the article, Buchanan quotes Bryan Burrough, author of Days of Rage, America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence, “During an 18-month period in 1971 and 1972, the FBI reported more than 2,500 bombings on U.S. soil, nearly 5 a day.” And Buchanan concludes: “No, 2018 is not 1968, at least not yet.”
But when you’re living the history, everything seems upsetting. You wonder if we can go on. Can we make it? What about our children and grandchildren? What will happen to them?
In August 2017, I wrote a blog asking Are you a worrier? I recalled hearing stories of “THE DEPRESSION,” a multi-year event that shaped my parents’ lives. My father’s family couldn’t find enough food. My grandfather lost his job. He had six children. My mom received an orange for Christmas. Times were tough. I ended the blog with the realization that “It’s about perspective, isn’t it?”
What do you think?
I’m reducing the price of A Groovy Christmas for the holiday season. The ebook is now 99 cents. My characters revisit the time when women “wore flowers in their hair.” It’s a “happily-ever-after” take on a period of history that many of us still remember.
A Groovy Christmas (1968)
Like the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s, Kathleen and Grant’s families have been feuding for decades. At Christmas Kathleen discovers that free sex is not so free, and sometimes the man of your dreams comes into your life when you least expect it.
Not Quite Christmas (1969)
Accountant Frank Smith doesn’t want to go home for Christmas, not after he was dumped by his long-time girlfriend on Christmas Day a year ago. Avoiding Legend, Tennessee, is high on his priority list until he meets his mother’s houseguest—hippie chick Emmy Johnson, a girl with a past . . . . and maybe Frank’s future.