Day 25

30 Days: Day 25-Favorite memory

Once again...how on earth can I pick just ONE favorite memory? Do I choose when my children were born or when I was falling in love with Shell? Our ceremony in Vegas or my boy earning his black belt in Karate? Singing my first solo or listening to my girl sing hers? I'm modifying this one instead. Let's do it this way. I'll pick some news-related memories from each decade of my life so far.

Memories from my first 10 years (1974-1983):
MTV. It premiered when I was 7 years old and although I don't remember exactly when we actually got cable and I started watching it, I remember seeing Michael Jackson's Thriller video and the Making Of special which premiered when I was 9. I watched MTV after school and we'd usually have it on all weekend long. My mom listened to the same music I did, so she didn't mind at all.

Charles & Diana's wedding. Oh, how I remember that wedding and the obsession that followed surrounding the couple and Princess Diana in particular. I loved everything about the pomp and circumstance and the dresses and the men in uniform and the royal traditions... I still am intrigued and enamored with British royalty from before Diana and ever since.

Memories from the second decade (1984-1993):
The Night Stalker- Richard Ramirez. During the summer of 1985, Southern California was in a constant state of fear thanks to the serial raping and murders occurring throughout the area. I remember that we couldn't leave our windows open overnight because that is how he was getting into houses and everyone was just afraid. When he was caught by an angry mob of people, the feeling of relief was widespread.

Challenger explosion. I was in 6th grade in 1986 and the launch of the space shuttle Challenger was a huge deal because of teacher Christa McAuliffe. The launch was being shown at school and I remember that a friend and I had been helping in one of the lower grades and were on our way back to class when someone ran out and said that the shuttle had blown up. We hurried back and all I remember seeing on the television before they turned it off were the white trails left in the sky.

AIDS. By now, HIV and AIDS were well-known sources of news stories, tabloid gossip and real-life discussions. The "gay disease" had grown from a nasty STD spread by gay men having unprotected sex in bath houses to an epidemic that has claimed over 25 million people including Rock Hudson, Ryan White, Freddie Mercury, Anthony Perkins, Arthur Ashe and Elizabeth Glaser.

Memories from my third decade (1994-2003):
O.J. Simpson. The murder, the low-speed police chase of the white Bronco, the arrest, the trial, the verdict. It was on the news, it interrupted television programming, it was the topic of conversation and it brought interracial relationships, domestic violence and racism into the news in a huge way.

JonBenét Ramsey. Just one year after we moved to Colorado, JonBenet was found murdered in her home in Boulder. To say it was all over the news would be a huge understatement. The subsequent suspicion of her parents and brother along with the spotlight it brought to kids in pageants was everywhere.

2004 to the present:
Michael Jackson's death. Enough said.

President Obama. From the race between Obama and Clinton to the race between Obama and McCain, I've stood in favor of the man who would become our first African-American president. His election truly gave hope to a country that prides itself on equality but fails to practice it.

Not included above: major earthquakes, notable high-order multiple births, 9/11, Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine shootings, Princess Diana's death, Oprah Winfrey's reign, Rodney King, Hurricane Katrina, Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, and Y2K.