Open Window

Perspective: The Last 50 Years

Graduation Mortarboard

2020 marks the 50th year since my classmates and I graduated from High School. Where did the time go?!

Sadly our reunion had to be cancelled because of COVID 19 and is now tentatively rescheduled for Spring 2021. In preparing for reunion, the organizers were very creative and thought it would be great fun and interesting if the class created a year book for this semicentennial event. They created a small questionnaire to help direct our thoughts which we could use or not, as we wished. I found the questions unexpectedly thought provoking.

I responded to the questionnaire in February, weeks before we'd ever heard of Coronavirus. For some reason one of the questions I answered then keeps coming to mind: "What have been the most significant aspects of the last 50 years: the people, events, happenings, lessons, or something else … that have most mattered?" If answering today, many would think the answer would unequivocally be Coronavirus and all it's alarming consequences, and perhaps when I can get some distance between the virus and my day-to-day life, I will agree but for now I wouldn't change my response ... because I have no perspective on this pandemic yet ... only opinions.

Right now, I must feel some solace and to do that I must acknowledge how fortunate I have been to have had and experienced all that I have. Thus I am sharing with you here my answer to that very question:

What have been the most significant aspects of the last 50 years: the people, events happenings, lessons, or something else … that have most mattered?

“The most significant aspects of the last 50 years”, have been the last 50 years. We have been an exceptionally fortunate generation of Americans. Certainly, there have been ups and downs but for the most part it has been an exceptionally prosperous and peaceful-period in history. There have been wars but no world wars. There have been recessions but with the exception of that last one, we recovered from them all quickly. Post WWII, the US was respected around the globe, our democracy thrived and seedling democracies established themselves around the globe; our Constitution and Bill of Rights held fast and our elected officials worked together as reasonable, bi-partisan, grown-ups (at least most of them).

Previous generations endured world wars, famine and the Great Depression. Future generations face a future of grave uncertainty with global warming, a nervous global economy, limited global resources, and the self-interests of the players on the global political stage. For the first time in these 50 years, the next generation will not be better off than their parents. These last 50 years have been an historical exception not the rule, and we have been the generation who benefited from it the most. How very fortunate we have been to have lived these 50 years.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Un Tunnel © 2010 Claudia Ward

Yesterday was the day of marches - Marches for Our Lives - around the globe. I was unable to attend one but I was riveted to my television from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. watching the rally in Washington D.C.  I spent most of that time with a box of Kleenex next to me as tears of pride, sadness, and hope welled up in me in wave after wave after wave. Pride in the youth who were speaking so eloquently, passionately and clearly, and who propelled these events into existence. Sadness that our youth has to live in such fear with first hand knowledge of death and violence; and, sadness that our youth has grown up so quickly and are the ones lecturing their elders in this country on right and wrong. Hope that our fragile democracy, the American experiment, just might survive, and that leadership with discipline is seeded in the next generation.

To say that I was impressed by the speeches yesterday is a gross understatement. Most of you know my love of words and how they can be strung together to tell a story, make an argument, elicit an emotion, and/or inspire thought and action. Those young adults and children "performed" beyond all of my expectations. Their poised delivery, passionate presentation, and clear message resonated with me - "No More", "Never Again", "Spread the Word", "Enough is Enough", and "Vote".

If there is any positive to come from this, in my mind it is that these young people understand democracy perhaps better than any generation since The Greatest Generation. They understand its potential power, and how it's designed to work, and they each broadcast, loudly or with silence, that they intend to make it work. Elected officials are just that, elected and can be replaced if the populace so decides with its collective votes. Democracy is a participatory form of government and this generation plans on actively participating for the foreseeable future.

For the first time in a very long time, I see light at the end of the tunnel and feel confident that it's not a speeding train heading for us.

Sag Harbor Historical Society

The Sag Harbor Historical Society (SHHS), housed in the Annie Cooper Boyd House on Main Street in Sag Harbor, New York, was established in 1985 with a threefold mission:

1. To promote and encourage public education and appreciation of Sag Harbor history,
2. To work for the preservation of historic buildings and sites, and 
3. To foster the preservation of the historic character of the village.

I bought my first house just over the bridge from Sag Harbor in North Haven in 1985 and it was a whaling captain's house built in the 1830's. Having grown up in an historic fishing village on Cape Cod, in a house that was over 200 years old, "historic" is a cherished part of the fabric of the communities I gravitate toward. Sag Harbor fits perfectly into that fabric.

The Port of Sag Harbor was founded in 1707. "By the time the Revolutionary War began, Sag Harbor had built up a thriving coastal and foreign trade. In 1789, when George Washington approved the creation of Sag Harbor as a Port of Entry for the newly formed United States, the village had more square rigged vessels engaged in commerce than the Port of New York." "Sag Harbor has the distinction of having had the first custom house in the U.S., the first volunteer fire company in the state of New York, and the first newspaper printed on Long Island. The lower part of the business district, thrice destroyed by fire, rose from the ashes each time, grew and prospered through a spectacular whaling industry, a period of industrial growth, and finally as a place where the population swells each summer with an ever increasing influx of visitors and a bay filled with pleasure craft. Through all of its 300 years, Sag Harbor has retained its special history, beauty, and individuality", the preservation of which is now being aided by the Historical Society ... my new employer.

I have the great good fortune to have been selected to be the new Office Manager for the Historical Society and I started this week. The office is in a house that was originally built in 1795 and it has low ceilings and creaky, uneven floors of well-worn wood. The collection includes over 500 letters, books, documents, diaries, postcards and bibles, ledgers, photographs, and an extensive collection of the artwork of Annie Cooper Boyd. I am truly excited to be working to help preserve the history of this wonderful adopted village of mine.

 

 

911

"Twin Towers in Light" from www.prunejuicemedia.com

It's so hard to believe it's September 11th once more, let alone September 11, 2014 - 13 years after that fateful day, the day that changed all our lives and our way of living forever. Many of you know that I was downtown in Manhattan on 911; in fact, my husband and I had just moved in to an apartment just blocks east of the Trade Center which had turned my 50 minute commute to my job at One Wall Street in to a seven minute walk. I felt so lucky.

A week after 9/11, we were all trying to put our lives back in order. We rose every day, showered, dressed and headed to our jobs which happened to be only blocks away from Ground Zero. It took a Herculean effort just to put one foot in front of the other, but we all did it knowing each step took us just that much further away from the horrific events of that day. None of it made sense to us, the violence, the death, the destruction ... the stench, the ash, the crushed steel ... the hatred.

New Yorkers are a strange breed, I've been told. We're described as gruff, aggressive, and often rude, and maybe we are - New York is a big city with millions of residents and a million or more in daily commuters. We compete for everything - jobs, taxis, restaurant reservations, theater tickets, and seats on the subway, and we all want to end up "on top". But in the face of adversity, whether it's a blizzard, a transit strike, or a terrorist attack, New Yorkers band together like no others I've ever known. No one is a stranger to another at those times, and we would go out of our way to help each other - perhaps it's a crowded island mentality - who knows? All I do know is New York was an incredibly assuring place to be after 9/11. We were all in the same fragile place in our minds and hearts, all grappling with wrapping our heads around all we'd seen and experienced. We respected each other's weaknesses and human frailties, never asking "where were you" because we knew the pain it would cause remembering.

Several days after returning to our offices a friend posted a poem on a hall wall, a poem that was written by his young teenage daughter - a girl grappling with it all as well. I came across this poem a few weeks ago, found it just as poignant as it was in 2001, and got permission to share it with you here, as she says, "God Bless America".

9-11-01

I can't stop this hurt
Sleepless nights
of pain Filled with tears
These images won't leave me
Over and over they play
I can hardly turn away from the evil TV
Showing me pictures
of hate
I almost lost my father
The one I thought I could live without
But now I know
Life has changed
Now I know I need him
I lay in the grass
staring at the sky of smoke
Will it ever be the same?
They took the lives of innocence
Countless mothers and fathers
won't be coming home
The evil will laugh at the numbers....
All I can do is cry
It seems like it never stops
I can't run from this problemn
not this time
Why does my heart feel so heavy?
The look on my father's face no longer tells me
everything's going to be alright
he is just as helpless as I
Is it wrong to laugh?
Because this guilt I feel I can no longer hold inside
All I can do is sit and cry
wondering why them?
why now?
I stare blankly at the picture
of the twin towers hanging over my bedroom mirror
each morning
and I remember, that no matter
how many times I pinch myself
It's not a nightmare
they won't be there
All that remains is a memory
Piles of twisted unforgiving steel
that last week touched the sky
now lay in the streets
Hiding life underneath
It is not lonely me who cries alone each night
America is crying
No cheek has been untouched
Eyes are no longer dry
It's a mystery how this world works
what evils hide in its mist?
A husband with a pregnant wife
was taken
she gave birth just yesterday
no one can forget
The day the sky turned to gray and
flames touched the clouds
Terror came from above
No one will forget the faces
splashed with pain and tears
holding anger in their hearts
The dust seems to be clearing now
but our visions are still filled with uncertainty
Now the future is bleak and unsure
Yet We will recover,
But never again be the same
The day of Infamy as it has been called
has shaken our souls to the core
We will never forget
Ever
We shall Overcome
God Bless America

9/18/2001
A young girl age 14 

June 6, 2014: D-Day 70th Anniversary

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of D-Day when the Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. I recall taking my uncle to those beaches in 1987 when he was quite ill. He had been part of that big push although he followed the first wave by several days. I learned a great deal about the war on that trip with John and what it meant to the "boys" and specifically to my uncle to be a part of it. He truly felt that it was the most important thing he'd done in his entire life. I cherish the memories of the stories he told and having that "first-hand" perspective.

Last year, Peter and I joined Valérie Jardin in Normandy for a photography workshop. This was my first time back and Peter's first time there ever. We spent one whole day visiting Ouistreham, Arromanches, Port-en-Bessin, Colleville, and Point du Hoc photographing the monuments commemorating the events of that day, remnants of the Mulberry harbor built in Arromanches, the pillboxes of Point du Hoc, and the crosses in the American Cemetery at Colleville. Each is a site one does not forget and it's impossible not to grasp the enormity of what the Allied Forces accomplished that day and the price they paid.

Seventy years after that event, the world would honor those who survived and those who died in a tribute in Oeistreham on Sword Beach. I rose early yesterday expecting to see the ceremony on television and was grossly disappointed by the two minute clip I got from the morning news. I knew the BBC wouldn't fail me and I was right, they televised the entire event from the dignitaries arrival to the pyrotechnics at the end. The entire program was perfectly executed telling the story of the war through theatrical dance, film clips on several large screens, and poignant narration. Early in the program I thought how disappointed I would have been not to have seen the program or at least gotten a real sense of what had been done, so I decided to create a slide show with "screen shots" taken with my iPhone throughout the program. This is what I share with you now, thanks to the BBC. The program was creative, informative and moving, and the BBC cameras caught everything exceptionally well. Although the official ceremony was at Oeistreham, several other ceremonies occurred during the day throughout Normandy and a few images of some of those events are included here from the British and American cemeteries in Bayeaux and Colleville, respectively, and in Arromanches. As moving as the ceremonies were, the images of the veterans and their emotions on this day are what truly moved me, especially the image of the French and German veterans embracing. If you didn't catch this broadcast, I hope you enjoy this synopsis; if you did, I hope you think I've done it justice.

  

All iPhone Images of the BBC Broadcast of the Official D-Day Ceremonies
Music: "Saving Private Ryan" - The Longest Day Album by Various Artists

P.S. There was a wonderful story I heard several times yesterday about an 89 year old veteran who was in a nursing home in Sussex, England. It was reported that the staff could not find him and notified the authorities. It seemed he'd vanished. Well he turned up ... at these ceremonies in Normandy! Apparently he'd been told he was not well enough to take the trip to France, so defiantly he pinned all of his medals to his shirt, covered them with an overcoat, snuck out the front door, and then crossed the channel with his mates to Normandy. No wonder we won the war! I love that story.

The Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Flags Over Newport Harbor, ©2012 Claudia Ward

I woke up curious this morning, curious about the history surrounding this national holiday - the 4th of July, a.k.a. Independence Day, so I began surfing the web for answers and stumbled upon a couple of interesting tidbits that I thought I'd share with you here.

Flags Over Nantucket, ©2012 Claudia Ward

We all believe that America's Continental Congress declared independence from Britain on July 4th 1776 but, in fact, the vote for independence occurred on July 2nd 1776 and the "Declaration" was published in the newspapers on the 4th.

American Flag on an American Eagle, ©2012 Peter Tooker, HDR

The Declaration of Independence - the document - was not fully executed until August 1776. In fact, John Hancock was the only one to provide his "John Hancock" on the Declaration on the 4th of July.

Flying the Flag on Narragansett Bay, ©2012 Peter Tooker

Presidents John Hancock and John Adams, each a signer of the Declaration of Independence, both died on the 4th of July 1826, adding meaning and significance to this special date.

Our Banner Unfurled, ©2012 Claudia Ward

The American Flag has gone through a lot of changes over the centuries. "In 1958, a history teacher assigned Robert Heft and his classmates at Lancaster High School to each redesign the national banner to recognize Alaska and Hawaii, both nearing statehood." Heft was the only one who stitched a new flag, simply adding two stars. His teacher apparently gave him a B-, to which Heft took exception. He mailed his flag to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who personally selected Heft's design to become our new banner in 1960. Heft's teacher revised his grade to an A!

 

Oh Say Can You See ...? ©2012 Peter Tooker

 So enjoy your 4th! Celebrate our independence and raise a flag or two.

 

Special thanks to The Huffington Post and TheFW for pointing me toward these tidbits.

The Longest Day II

Today is the longest day of the year which means it's the first official day of summer - surely a day to be celebrated after the winter and spring we had in the eastern half of the U.S. Despite the fact of this celestial event, every time I think of "the longest day", my mind turns to Darryl Zanuck's movie The Longest Day.

The Longest Day depicts the events of D-Day during WWII, told from both the Allied and German points of view. D-Day is actually June 6th but in 1944 I am sure it was the longest day. There are several things that make this movie memorable for me. First it's in black and white which I feel focuses the viewers attention on the story and its events, and not the film and its making. Second, all French and German characters speak in their native language with subtitles in English. This brought an unexpected reality to the movie for me. Third, the film features a large ensemble cast including actors such as Richard Todd, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Paul Anka, Fabian, Mel Ferrer, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo, George Segal, Robert Ryan, and Robert Wagner, to name only some from the English speaking cast. A number of these "stars" played roles that were virtually cameo appearances. There is no one star or even one event at the center of attention in this film, all of the events of D-Day command your attention as they all comprised this single day in history.

If you enjoy a truly good movie, based in historical reality, with exceptional direction and acting, I recommend you seek out The Longest Day. I expect you too will never hear that expression without first thinking of this film and then of what all of those soldiers went through on D-Day. 

 

Henry VIII's Wives

The Tudors, a Showtime special in its fourth and final season begins tonight, which will have Peter and me riveted to the television. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is doing a superb job of portraying this mercurial monarch. Who of us doesn't find the complex story of Henry VIII and his six wives interesting? The dynamics of Henry's life and marriages changed governments and religion forever.

Amongst Henry's wives there were 3 Catherine's, 2 Ann's and 1 Jane and their respective stories are equally as interesting as Henry's. The intrigues of Henry's court make today's political games look like child's play, as the stakes were much higher then ... you could really die! But for all my fascination with Henry's epoch story, for the life of me I couldn't remember what happened to his wives until my Uncle John shared this rhyme with me, which I have never forgotten:

Divorced, Beheaded, Died,

Divorced, Beheaded, Survived!

Anything to contribute? Comment, go ahead ... consider it a conversation, really.

Churchill Quotation

Quotations are posted to my homepage everyday from Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin. What can I say, I enjoy little pearls of wisdom, from varied perspectives. When I first read the quotation from Churchill yesterday, I thought I liked it but as I began to ponder over it I became more perplexed. Is Churchill being sarcastic or sincere?

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

   

Is this sarcasm or genuine admiration for an under-dog? 

What's your read on this? Let us know.