I am a survivor of the Great Alaska Earthquake. In the lead-up to the 50th anniversary of that event, I have been made aware of the fact that we are also coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964. 1964 was a seminal year in the life of Mrs. McGrews only son. I think the statute of limitations has run out on the sin of lying to my parents so that I could skip church to watch the Beatles that fateful night. I faked a fever. I HAD to see the Beatles. And Ed Sullivan was on at the same hour that church services started that night, and I had no choice. It was worth it, and it changed my life. My life would change again on March 27 of that year. We lived in an apartment at Hollywood Vista, on the bluff of Government Hill overlooking the rail yards. The quake remains vivid in my memory. I remember events of that day better than a lot of days since then. I dont remember feeling afraid, oddly enough. I remember the land heaving up and down, the people in the street who had abandoned the apt. building we occupied, people who were probably safer, but not as warm. The rumbling lasted forever and then...the silence. We took in families that were without places to stay, cooked on Coleman stoves, and camped out in the apartment for a couple days. Two weeks vacation until double shift at Mt. View elementary put us back in school. This was, of coures, because Government Hill Elementary had slid down the hill and was destroyed. August of 1964 would find the McGrews moving to Eagle River to take over a church, and with that another seminal event in my life took place. Apparently a lot of stuff that shaped my life happened in 1964
Posted on: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 00:56:31 +0000
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