Monday, 10 December 2012
Day of Infamy
By Joanne Zimmermann
December 7, 1941, found me walking to the drug store with my dad. It was snowing. We usually walked there, just a two block stroll.
Sometimes I got ice cream. The owner’s was named Elmer, a one man stand. He was pharmacist, soda jerk and confidante. Those twisted wire stools with little round tables still stand in my childhood memory bank.
As we rounded the corner I remember my dad explaining what happened. Of course we only had just heard about it on the radio. No graphic pictures were possible in those days; just as well. Only words, trying to describe what happened to inform the American public of such a dreadful thing.
I was eight, nearly nine. I think it was the dawning of reality for me. As a child you look up to adults, at least most of them in your little sphere. How could grown-ups act so childish, so stupid, and so horrible? There was simply no explanation.
A realization that the world was not as friendly a place as I had thought came upon me. What was going to happen?
Our simple little snowy corner of my world suddenly opened up to dangerous possibilities. My childhood was over, as I had known it.
[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Please read instructions for submitting.]
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
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Joanne, good story, it brought back a flood of memories.
Posted by: Marcy B. | Monday, 10 December 2012 at 06:47 AM
On Bainbridge Island, just out of Seattle there is a wonderfully large memorial to those Japanese who were sent away to replacement camps. Hopefully our govt will never do a thing like that again; whisking people away in the night with just one suitcase. But we all remember that day; where we were and what we were doing. Nice story.
Posted by: Johna Ferguson | Monday, 10 December 2012 at 10:16 AM
I was stuck with the impact of the news of the attack at Pearl Harbor on your eight-year-old self. That it was the dawning of a reality that adults could do horrible, vicious things to other human beings. That's a profound life lesson for a child.
Posted by: Madeleine Kolb | Monday, 10 December 2012 at 11:12 AM
One of those life-changing moments, like 11-22-63, or 9-11-01; when, as you say, childhood ends. Well put.
Posted by: Dan Vitale | Monday, 10 December 2012 at 12:02 PM
I feel we all can relate to a life-changing moment that happened to us and opened our eyes as to how unpredictable the world can be. Great story.
Posted by: Claire Jean | Monday, 10 December 2012 at 02:15 PM
So simple. So powerful. Thank you.
Posted by: wearmanyhats | Tuesday, 11 December 2012 at 04:27 AM