The things you recall

On July 31st, 1987, I was camping with my family at Crimson Lake. I remember this because at a certain point of the afternoon a man came running through the campground, shouting that a tornado had hit Edmonton.

We thought he'd had too much to drink.

The next thing you know, though, we were all huddled around the tiny black and white television in the camper, trying to get any kind of reception with the rabbit ears and looking on in complete disbelief when we finally did. An F4 tornado in Edmonton. It didn't seem possible.

Obviously, from the way I described it just now, that tornado has become one of my remember where you were when moments. That, the Challenger disaster (I'd had that morning off and had the "pleasure" of seeing the whole thing on the live feed), Princess Diana's death (which I also watched the live news feed of. Insomnia, that time. And surely I don't need to link to Princess Diana?)... there are a couple of other things on that list, but I'd imagine you've got the gist.

What I want to know is why the remember whens in my life all seem to be negative.

Unfortunately, I was too young to remember the moon landings or the '72 Canada-Russia series. Actually... sporting events don't usually do it for me anyway, so even if I had been old enough to notice anything about those hockey games it probably would have only been a remember when in that I'd be remembering the weird behaviour of the sports fans around me.

Now, of course I can remember what I was doing when I found out about certain family events (both positive and negative), but what I'm talking about here is the kind of thing that when you hear mention of its anniversary on the news you automatically know where you were when it happened. Collective memory, I guess. Culture remembering.

And you have to admit that it's generally the disasters that stick in the brain.

So, on this anniversary of Black Friday (and I'm in full denial that it was twenty years ago) I'm asking for a little assistance. Remember for me. I want to see if I can recall at least something personal about some events that didn't involve death and destruction.

Good luck with that. I have a feeling that it's not the easiest challenge in the world. Either that, or I'm even more of a pessimist than I already knew I was. And that, my friends, is a slightly more than depressing thought.