Mom cooked a correct meal with protein, starch and veg, plus dessert. When I was eight we moved to “the hill” and for a gift our grandfather gave us a small color television on wheels so that we could see Walter Cronkite’s broadcast during dinner. In those days it always ended with the number of American soldiers killed in Vietnam.
When it came to the announcement of JFK’s death, I may remember a fleeting moment of it but I mostly remember the viewing, parade and funeral. I was just five years old.
My sister was born on the date Apollo 11 landed on the moon. We had taken our first plane flight and were so excited to watch the moon landing. Who announced it but a boy who probably wanted to shoot off rockets in his home town, who was now the man named Walter Cronkite.
He had a distinguished career and family life. He brings me to remember a simpler life when there were three channels and a very brief news window and when we believed the “talking heads” that now read the “news” over teleprompters. For those who say Mr. Cronkite wasn’t a “real” reporter but an entertainer, he was a wire guy, a news junkie. That’s what I read and want to believe.
A good man died yesterday, and I remember him over the orange chicken and rice, fruit salad and whatever we had that night as 368 young Americans died in a foreign country that day.
All I can say is that’s what I remember. As a kid in a crazy world, I trusted him and if he said we were OK, we were OK. Would I trust any network to tell me that now? No way. If there’s a hurricane coming I keep the computer up and running while packing the car to go and always check multiple sources.
You kept us informed, telling us good news as well as bad, all while showing your professionalism with your humanity and humility. Thank you for that. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 