Waxing Historic

            After school today, John F. Kennedy was in the gym along with Benjamin Franklin, Hillary Clinton, Elvis Presley, J. K. Rowling and Derek Jeter.
            It was the annual “Wacky Wax Museum.”  Our third graders each read a biography about an important person, and yes, biographies have been written on people like Sasha Cohen who were born after 1980. Then the children come dressed as their person, complete with wigs, make-up, moustaches (some penciled in, some hairy), and, in some instances, fake pearls.  

            I don’t bring this up to wax poetic about my school, although the evening was certainly an incredible success. It’s just that what struck me as I was driving home was just how much history I’ve lived through. 

            It’s easy enough to say that 60 is the new 40, but 40-year-olds don’t remember when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon or when J.F.K. was shot.  Naturally, they know who Hillary Clinton is, but they were probably not married themselves when Hillary sat next to Bill during that 60 Minutes interview.  They don’t remember all the articles we used to read (and write) about the first woman to become a dentist, plumber, judge, CEO, barber, surgeon, or whatever.

            Okay, so we had to duck under our desks during air raid drills, but we could board a plane without taking off our shoes and could visit the cockpit in midair.  We thought Princess phones and transistor radios were the coolest things in the world, never dreaming that we’d have phones the size of index cards. Let alone printer/copier/faxes, VCRs, DVDs, PCs, I-pads, I-phones, I-pods, and more.

            No, 60 minus 46 days is 60 minus 46 days. Period.   It’s amazing just how much  has happened since 1952.