They say that if you remember the sixties, you weren't really there. But I was there and I have many memories, both good and bad.
The entire quote is as follows:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us”.
For me, the "sixties" actually runs from 1963 to 1973. Two important influences of this era were the music of the Beatles, starting to become well-known in 1963 and the War in Viet Nam which ended in 1973.
I still vividly recall watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan on Feb 9 1964. I sat in front of our black and white TV and was amazed. At thirteen years of age I was ready for something exciting to shake up my boring small town junior high existance. As they sang and played I was transfixed. My seventy year old grandmother lived with us and she sat there and laughed through the entire performance. I loved her dearly, but at that moment I could have strangled her. How could she? Didn't she see how amazing they were? How talented and innovative? And Paul was positively dreamy. More about Grandma later.
The next day in English class I wrote an essay about them and was deducted several marks for mis-spelling "beetles". I tried to argue my case but only succeeded in getting two days of detention. My teacher was so lame.
The Beatles music seemed to release us from the sadness that had befallen us when, a few months earlier, John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been murdered. The "winter of despair" gave way to the "spring of hope".
More great music followed and we were going to need it because things were getting worse in Viet Nam. Remember Grandma? Well she was a Communist. She had become one during the dirty thirties when men who were "riding the rails" looking for non-exixtent jobs got off the trains and wandered into town looking for a meal. She always fed them and then gave them work chopping wood to preserve their dignity. I guess the unfairness of it all combined with her big heart just pushed her towards the Communist philosophy.
During the Viet Nam War she and my mom kept their pacifist tendencies under wraps, I mean, what would the neighbours think? But in 1969 there was a major anti-war rally planned at the Peace Gardens and Grandma desperately wanted to go. So she and Mom and I piled into the car and drove down there. My little white haired grandmother, with her sensible shoes and sweet smile was quite a hit. A local photographer took a picture of her carrying a sign that said "make love, not war". I had long since forgiven her for that Beatles thing and I was pretty proud.
The horror of that war was being beamed daily into our living rooms and too many young men were dying. It was the worst of times. The war finally ended in 1973. The "season of darkness " was over.
So there you have it. The Beatles and the end of the war, neatly book-ending my sixties experience. In between we had a dream, Laugh-In and go-go boots, sit-ins and Kent State. Wisdom, foolishness, belief and incredulity.
I have shared some of my 60's memories and now I hope that you will do the same. This video may help to remind you of those times when we had everything before us: