By Phil Riske | Senior Reporter/Writer
I know I don’t belong
And there’s nothing that I can do
I was born too late
And I’ll never be like you
~ From “Born Too Late,” The Poni-Tails, 1986
Originally published Oct. 28, 2013
Fifty years ago come Nov.22, I parked my car at work, got out, and a woman yelled “President Kennedy’s been shot!”
A forthcoming book from former New York Times reporter Philip Shenon digs into exactly what the Warren Commission got wrong and how the CIA and FBI withheld information about the 1963 Kennedy assassination that might have prevented the time when, it was said, “America lost its innocence.”
The median age of American citizens is 37, meaning more than 180 million were not alive when Kennedy was killed. So, this is written for those people in general, but specifically for those at Rose Law Group for whom I work because most of these professionals, I’m guessing, were born too late to have experienced the long list of historic events I have been fortunate enough to have experienced.
I am not pulling age rank, nor am I saying young people have, so far, lived boring lives—far from it, of course. It is solely to say they can look forward to their long list 50 years from now to pass on to those not yet born.
What is now and what is ahead are a far distance from the top 10 historic events in my life:
WWII
Vietnam
Alaska and Hawaii statehoods
Civil Rights Act
Kennedy assassination
Bobby Kennedy assassination
Martin Luther King assassination
First men on the moon
Watergate, Nixon resignation
Roe v Wade
You and I can look forward with hope there will be no more wars, no more assassinations, no more presidential scandals, and no more legal rulings that divide our nation.
Let’s work for a list for 2063 that includes:
Cancer cures
Relative worldwide peace
Competent governance; Political statesmanship
A nation powered by 80% alternative energy sources
Respect for the English language
Perspective in sports
Return to music genius
Healthcare affordable for all
Drastic reductions in poverty, homelessness, hunger
Responsible social and news media
You were not born too late.
