It was just another day until it wasn’t.

For Americans alive in 1941, the date of December 7, 1941 will not be forgotten as it was the day the Japanese decimated the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. It was, according to President Roosevelt, a “day that will live in infamy.” For those alive in 1963, the date of November 23, 1963 will always be remembered as the day President Kennedy was assassinated. For those alive in 2001, September 11, 2001 will be forever etched in their memories as a day when the planes hit the Twin Towers in New York as well as the Pentagon.

But if you were not alive at these particular times, those days might have little meaning. While most seniors describe the effect of 9/11 as “uniting” the country, only 22% of the millennials (born 1980-1996) and 21% of Generation Z (born 1996-2010) agreed.

For those alive at the time of these events, they know exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. But there are other events which do not have historical significance but which evoke responses depending on your station in life.

Given my inability to walk any distance, my normal position is in an easy chair with my legs up which means that the most I usually do is read. My daily regimen includes the New York Times and the local newspaper. While the NYT provides considerable information including the crossword puzzle (not the big one but the little one), the local paper contains nuggets not otherwise found. For example, there is a column on people having birthdays although it appears that only entertainment celebrities have birthdays (My God, Stevie Nicks is 74 and I remember her when she was only 25). Barack Obama’s birthday, no; Michelle Obama’s birthday, no; Oprah’s birthday, definitely. Oh, and don’t forget the Rapper Pit Bull.

Just as the passage of time renders certain historical events unimportant to after born individuals, so too my knowledge of the individuals whose birthdays are being celebrated pretty much stops at 25 years younger than me, Pit Bull being one obvious exception.

Another nugget in the local newspaper was this: bird enthusiasts complained that wind turbines killed too many birds. They are right. The American Bird Conservancy estimates that wind turbines kill 681,000 birds a year but, as it turns out, cats kill 2.4 billion and cats provide static electricity only occasionally.

One of the other features of the local newspaper are the death notices. If you are at the point where you have more days behind you than ahead of you, obituaries are of interest. As Carl Reiner once said: “I get up and read the death notices and, if I’m not in them, then I have breakfast.”

Someone recently told me that the death notices were the only accurate information in the paper. I don’t think that is necessarily correct because, almost without exception, the notice speaks about the loving spouse left behind even though that can’t be 100% true, can it?

On December 29, 2022, Edson Arantes do Nascimento died at age 82 in Santos, Brazil. He was known to the world as Pele’ and, in his time, was the best paid and most well-known athlete in the world. He played what the world calls “football” and what people in the United States call soccer. He led Brazil to World Cup Championships in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

When he visited the White House, the President stepped forward, extended his hand and said “I am Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States, and everybody knows you.”

Pele’ was born with two huge strikes against him. He was very poor and he was very black but he was able to overcome because he had an athleticism enjoyed by only a few in every generation.

American football commands the attention of over 100 million people. Pele’s football has well over a 1 billion and maybe 2 billion fans. His 24-hour wake drew 230,000 people in his hometown of Santos, population 430,000.

What made Pele’s death one of those days? I think it really depends on your age.

The whole thought of death is one that many do not want to contemplate. Everyone knows it’s coming but why think about it? Their response in the teenage patois of today (“not cool bro”) or that of yesterday (“you’re bringing me down dude”). Or as one of your aunts would say during a family scuffle “let’s talk about something nice.”

Then there are the graying baby boomers sitting in church, preparing, as my friend Tom Figel says, for the “final examination.” Some have been attending church all along while others have recently joined. The business of aging has a person thinking about the end. First the hair recedes, turns grey, then the pot belly, the sagging neck, the lack of physical or mental strength, the daily pill containers, the health scares cured by medical interventions.  For those 25 years younger, no worries but just know it’s coming.

The boomers all fondly remember their youth as well as the music of that time and now may be partial to Bob Dylan singing “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”.

There are those who are sick and infirm and quite willing to go quietly.

Many more follow the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and refuse “… to go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

I don’t remember whether the line occurred in a war movie, a cowboy movie or a spy movie.  It may be apropos.

I don’t think we are getting out of here alive.

For those who find this blog somewhat morbid, let me reintroduce some of you and introduce the rest to a more uplifting version of “Mama Said” by the Shirelles. Listening to this song, one thing occurs.  It was not very hard to produce a hit record in 1961.