| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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Last Updated 01/20/06
TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING
"The speed of the passing of time is undoubtedly relative to the age of the observer." Theory number XXXX. How do you prove such a hypothesis--except through experience of many individuals. I think many will remember these experiences.
For young children, time creeps. Weeks before Christmas, birthdays, school beginning and endings, any anticipated event, seem to move forward for twelve hours and then backwards for six. "Mama, how much longer till my birthday?" The ache to be just a few years older: old enough to walk across the street without holding hands, to order what he wants from the menu, to go fishing with daddy, to ride a bicycle.
Then time crawls before old enough to wear makeup, to drive, to date. "When will I ever get out of school? I'll be too old to enjoy life before I get to live."
Oh, but it isn't many years until time should be arrested for speeding. You wake up one morning, the marriage is beginning to get comfortable, the kids are finishing school, soon leaving the nest, and the question begins to form, "Where did all the time go? I was so busy taking care of the kids, the house, the husband, the job, that I forgot to enjoy the trip. If only I could go back a little and slow the clock."
I hardly think this kind of relativity was what Einstein had in mind when he hypothesized the Theory of Relativity, but the years fly as age increases. Open your eyes from the nights sleep and it's a new year. You have to learn to write checks all over again.
Thirty-seven years ago we were living in Cloudcroft, New Mexico for the third year. We had experienced snow like we never dreamed about in Erath County. The high elevation and great trees of the Lincoln National Forest made the whole world look different. The sky was a deep blue and so immense it made mere human beings very insignificant by comparison. And some things happened that year that impacted the nation.
The United States and Russia were in the early stages of a space race. Miss Sam, a small monkey survived a rocket ride from Wallops Island, VA, to 9 miles out in the Atlantic, one of many U. S. experiments to escape Earth's gravity.
Movements against segregation took wings when 1,000 black students staged a peaceful protest on the steps of the state capitol at Montgomery, Ala.
Premier Nikita Khrushchev announced the capture of U-2 pilot Francis Powers when his weather-research plane strayed over Russian territory.
President Eisenhower signed the 1960 Civil Rights Bill, May 6. November 8, John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States.
The first kidney transplant was accomplished between fraternal twins with radiation being used to kill the antibodies in the recipient. Poliomyelitis was still a disease to be feared. The oral vaccine, created by Albert B. Sabin, was being proved effective against the paralyzing disease.
"Soap operas" were being cut. Ma Perkins, Amos 'n' Andy, Road to Happiness, among others were laid to rest. Oscar Hammerstein II, died, but his song, Itsy-Bitsy, Teenie-Weenie, Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini lived on among the top ten.
Floyd Patterson upset Ingemar Johanson to become the first man to recapture the world heavyweight crown.
Rodger Woodward, aged 7, became the first person to survive an accidental plunge over the Niagara Falls.
The United States continued to dominate the Olympics in basketball. Jerry Lucas, a sophomore from Ohio, led the U. S. team scoring 136 points. Oscar Robertson, University of Cincinnati scored 132 points. Wilma Rudolph won gold medals for the 100- and 200-meter dashes and shared one in the 400-meter relay. Ted Williams hit his 521st home run and retired.
The 1961 Thunderbird, powered by 390 four-barrel V-8 engine, caught the publics eyes with the rocket-style.
In Texas, Governor Price Daniel was re-elected for a third term. Lyndon Johnson was a candidate for vice-president and also on the ballot for re-election to the Senate. A Houston mattress company put three chimpanzees to work on its assembly lines but were protested by the labor union.
Impressed by my memory? Don't be. I just found the American Peoples Encyclopedia Year Book. Personally, my birthday finally rolled around again--I can't even remember what day it was--and certainly don't want to remember which year it was. Time is relative. I'm younger than Ray.