Hayter’s article for April 17, 2022
“The way back machine”
Today, I’m going to ask you to do something for me that will require more brainpower than you may have to spare. The mind is a valuable thing to squander.
I sent a blanket email out to my family members, asking them to answer the same question I’m going to ask you, and only a third of them responded. You’d think I was asking for a new washing machine.
All I asked them to do was pretend that they could visit any place they wanted during any year they wished. If they wanted to hear Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, they could visit Pennsylvania back in November of 1863. And while standing in a field strewn with graves and unburied bodies you could hear Lincoln say “…we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion…” Though it was short, some historians have rated it the greatest of speeches.
Or, maybe you want to sail with Columbus and discover Cuba. Do it! You would be sorely disappointed, but do it. Perhaps you want to go back to the time when you were in high school or reform school. Whatever. Whenever. Oh, but you can’t do anything that might change history. In other words, you can’t try to talk George Armstrong Custer out of going to the Little Big Horn. Or invest in McDonald’s or IBM.
So before you start thinking, let me tell you what the kinder of my family members came up with. My kid brother, Al, said that he would like to go back to a time when we thought only about family and playing with our friends. There seemed to be no other worries. And, he would also like to concentrate on taking more care of Mom and making sure that Dad knew that he loved him.
Hold on, Jill’s got something here. My kid sister wants to go back to 1978 and 1983 to hold her two baby boys again. That’s ripe. She also wants to go back to 1958 and welcome Daddy home from work and “give him lots of hugs and moochies.” I have no idea how Dad would take to that. He would probably have taken it well had we all been less cautious about running up and hugging him.
Get this. Jill also wants to go back to 1967, and visit her World History Class when Dana Cotton walked in and put a tape into a recorder, and started singing Aretha Franklin’s “RESPECT”. This time, Jill would jump and sing with him. The scary part of that was the fact that it was Coach McKown’s World History class. – Did you notice that Jill went back to four different years? That’s not fair.
Here's something shorter from Dardon Ann, Dennis’ wife. She wants to go back to her high school graduation because she missed it the first time. A waste of time travel you ask me. My graduation was hot and boring. And afterward, it seemed as if I was the only one who didn’t have a party to attend.
My Washington niece, Rhonda, an absolute peach, would go back 12 years so she could sit down and have coffee with her dad. She wants to have a long chat and get a hug. – My nephew Curt, Rhonda’s husband, would go back to the early 1900s and see what his grandpa’s life was like. He would only want to stay a day or two.
And, Kay? Sweetpea would go visit her grandparents (on both sides) during WWII. She wants to experience farm life and to see what it was like to have a whole country backing our boys fighting on two fronts. -- The farm life part is something I would rather imagine than participate in.
That brings us to me. I would like to be standing somewhere along a street in Paris on August 26, 1944, the day of the Liberation of Paris. A massive caravan of U.S. Troops and soldiers of the Free French will funnel down the crowded streets of Paris as a few hundred thousand French citizens welcomed them. Under Nazi oppression, the French hadn’t had anything to cheer about for the past four years. When the Americans marched in, the release of joy must’ve given a major spiritual lift to all. To be in the midst of that much joy would be wondrous.
So, what’s that got to do with you? Well, if you will, how about emailing me your wish for a visit to the past. Please give me a “when”, “where”, and a short “why” concerning your choice. As usual, my email address is displayed at the end of this thing.
In a couple of weeks, depending on the response, I will share your ideas with the rest of the readers. If you don’t want your last name included, please specify. If I never bring this up again, you’ll know that the response was sparse, sparser, sparsest. If I end up getting a lot of responses, I’ll have to be selective. If you do not wish your name to be given let me know.
One last thing. Since Jill came up with “four” visit sites, I’m going to include one more for myself. I’d like to go back to Coach McKown’s World History class in 1967 and sing “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” along with Dana and Jill! -- “Sock it to me! Sock it to me!” -- I’m pretty sure that’s part of the song.
PS: This project has been completed. I'll include the results by the end of the week. mh
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