Where Were You?

Hubs and I were floating around in our pool on Saturday during Lallie's nap, having one of our weekend shoot-the-breeze conversations, and we started talking about "where were you" situations.

I can remember where I was when Jerry Garcia died.  It was 1995 and I had just graduated from high school and my friend, Laura and I, were out driving around P-Town looking for our friends.  We found them, hanging out in our friend, Chris' house with all the candles lit and Jerry music blaring from the house.  We didn't interupt them.

I can remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Lallie.  It was the same day as our friends, Mike and Rachel, gave birth to their baby boy, Aidan.  We were at home and told them "we look forward to hearing that in 9 months," to which they replied with screams and yells.  We had suffered several miscarriages but this one was a sign from God, as we had just decided two weeks earlier, with great heartache, not move to Atlanta, despite job offers. 

I can remember where I was the day my baby brother was born.  It was 1985 and I was staying with The Hadley's that lived behind us on our first street.  My dad drove up, asked me if I wanted to go visit him and then took me to see mom and Chris.  After that, I remember nothing about his birth.

I can remember where I was for the Challenger.  It was 1986 and I was in 3rd grade.  The whole class, along with the rest of America, watched it all happen on TV.  I can still remember the classroom and the teacher's shock.  I don't remember how the situation was handled.

I can remember where I was when I was told Ashleigh was going to be my sorority little sister.  I had never met her and was asked at lunch, in the Raf, at Transy to pick her up.  I was a junior and she was a sophomore and she just happened to be sitting at a table across the restaurant from me.  Being the personable person I am, I wanted to immediately know more about her.  So I went over to her lunch table where she and the two other girls looked at me like, why are you so interested all of the sudden (because I couldn't yet reveal my intentions)?  No worries though, we are still best friends to this day, she was my Maid of Honor and she is now Lallie's Godmother.

I can remember the day I found out a high school classmate had died of Lupus.  We had gone to college together as well and unfortunately, were not close at all, though we had been quite close all through middle and high school.  It was a year or two after college and I was still in Lexington, Kentucky.  I had just left the mall and was sitting at the stop light to get onto Nicholasville Road.  My mom called and told me.  I cried.

I remember where I was when Kurt Cobain died.  It was 1994 and I was in Gulf Shores, Alabama on spring break with Laura and it was (I think) the day before we took her big brother, Brad, to the airport to serve in the Army in Germany for two years.  It was a rough couple of days for her (us).  We sat in front of the TV all day watching the news and then the next day, Laura had to send her brother off.  It was quite a humbling experience, sending someone off to serve, and I gained a newfound respect for all those who serve and their families that support them.  He later served in the war on terror and lost his leg to a suicide bomber.

I can remember the day George Bush left office.  We had watched the inauguration of the new President all day, as regardless of your party, it was quite exciting.  At the end of the evening, as Bush was getting on the plane to leave the White House, I began to tear up and then Lallie, who was about 16 or 17 months old, but barely speaking (she was a late talker), waved at the TV and said "Bye Bye Bush."

My dad served in the Army and one of my fondest memories is him coming home from a two-week training session.  He brought me Michael Jackson's Thriller album.  The one with the white tiger on the center spread.  He gave it to me in our front foyer.  One other time, he brought me home a Strawberry Shortcake doll.

I can remember where I was the first time Husband said he loved me.  We were at a restaurant called Shamrock's in Lexington eating our favorite thing ever, Irish Nachos, when he said he loved me.  He later left to go the restroom and I sat there and cried.  It was February 19th, 2001.

What are some of your fondest and most impressionable memories?