From The Comfort Of The Future

Brenda and I realized after visiting Memphis, and the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s killing at the Lorraine Hotel, that we had created a pattern of visits to other like places which we call our "assassination vacations." Not quite an assassination in the classic sense, our 2004 visit to the crater on the south side of Manhattan where the towers fell on 9/11 had all of the eerie marks of the event in Memphis. The world was changed there. And, as Americans affected by that change, we want to make a pilgrimage to the "ground zero" of those events. We also made a trip last year to Washington D.C. and Ford's Theater where John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln. From a center section of seats on the floor I could see the box where Lincoln was murdered. The distance from the box to the stage also made me cringe as I imagined Booth jumping and breaking his leg on the boards below. We then visited the Petersen House across the street where Lincoln was taken and later died.

Brenda and I look forward to visiting Dallas in the near future to see Dealey Plaza and the historical places connected to the death of JFK. Our intent to visit these sites don't come from morbid curiosity. Rather, we are intrigued with the bravery displayed by the characters of these historic events. This morning, as I watch another History Channel special about the tragic events in November of 1963, I am reminded that I am witnessing at a national tragedy from the comfort of the future. When each of these events happened, the nation was in a stir--answers weren't immediately forthcoming. I remember watching TV as a kid and seeing Robert Kennedy laying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The environment was frenzied as people ran about in disbelief. Today I feel a bit unworthy as I gaze at the History Channel from my easy chair.

The nation gets thrown into a collective tail-spin when incidents like the aforementioned happen. We feel vulnerable, scared, and wonder if the tragedy will some how affect us personally. These emotions subside after time as we settle back into our normal living patterns and eventually distance ourselves from the force that swept us off our feet.

Driving by the Civil War battlefield at Spring Hill, just a mile or so from my home, I am aware that the world was changed right in my backyard. These shrines to sacrifice, be it an assassination, or a face-off at a lunch counter, rightfully return honor to those who selflessly purchased our freedom so we could one day visit that hallowed ground...from the comfort of the future.