50 years ago, our family was celebrating our 5th “Navidad” in Wisconsin. As usual, we had a big “Noche Buena” meal and headed to the midnight mass. We were very fortunate that my father had the night off. He worked at a hotel and generally on duty during holidays.
1968 was actually a very tough year for everyone. There were riots all over the world, from Paris to Detroit. It was chaotic to say the least, from the assassinations of Reverend Martin Luther King to Senator Robert F. Kennedy. We had a very divisive political campaign, from Governor George Wallace to the police battling rioters at the Democrat Convention in Chicago. Over in Prague, Warsaw Pact tanks crushed the opposition without mercy. It was memorable for those of us who remember. And the #1 song of the year was “Hey Jude”, a 7-minute 45 by The Beatles with “Revolution” on the B-side!
Yet, 1968 ended with a bit of good news.
Apollo 8 went around the moon and gave us the most memorable moment of 1968.
I can still remember Christmas 1968 and listening to the 3 astronauts reading from Genesis somewhere around the moon.
It was one of those moments that will live with me forever.
And my mother reacting to the whole thing saying: “Que cosa mas grande Dios mio”.
PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. And here is the message from the moon: