Sunday, November 9, 2008

How did this happen?

We had a very interesting experience last Friday night at Will and Melanie's wedding. The DJ called for all married couples to come forward to the dance floor for a dance off. Naturally, we joined the rest of the couples, and started dancing with the rest of them. The DJ then asked for any couples who had been married less than 5 hours to move to the side, so Melanie and Will moved off. Then he called for those married less than 5 years to move to the side, which they did. He called for those married less than 10 years, and they left; less than 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, 30 years, and more and more people moved to the side. At this point, there were only two couples left on the dance floor - Jan and me, and MY PARENTS! Whoa! Was that ever a strange sensation! When he called for 50 years or less, we left Mom and Dad alone on the dance floor, which had been the purpose of the game all along. The DJ read the story of how they met, and how they had just celebrated their 59th anniversary. It was really a sweet moment in a very enjoyable evening. But being the second oldest people at the party was strange!

It reminded me of when I was teaching Psychology at Glendale Community College. We were talking about how some events have so much emotion tied up in them that you never forget where you were and what you were doing. For instance, I remember where I was when I heard about the revelation that gave all worthy men in the church the Priesthood. Anyway, I asked the class, "How many of you remember where you were when you heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated?" No one raised his hand, so I asked again. No response. Finally, a young girl in the back of the class said, "Mr. Brooksby, we weren't born yet." That day I realized which side of the hill I was standing on. That was more than 20 years ago, and I am still standing on that hill, on the downhill side.

2 comments:

brxb said...

I know what you're saying. If not for you, it would have been Pauli and I! So thanks for being a buffer for us.

Unknown said...

Mark has the same things happen in his classes. The kids he teaches are getting so YOUNG!