The "The 60's: A Memorable Decade In The Life Of LDub" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with a few of my high school classmates about our next class reunion.  I became a member of the reunion committee about a dozen years ago.  My main task as part of the committee was to print the reunion booklet that was given to everyone who attended the reunion.  My high school years were memorable, as I assume they were for many who are reading today's story.  Being part of a group of classmates who plan reunions every five years has revived many of those fabulous memories.  I graduated from both high school and college in the 60's which featured some of the best years of my life.  

1967 - Getting married to my sweetheart

I met and married my wife in the 60's as well as bought our first home in the 60's.  As far as local, national and inter- national events of the 60's, there were plenty of them.  Hey, it was in the 60's that girls started wearing bikinis and the same decade that girls began to burn their bras.  When they did wear something, culottes, go-go boots and the ever popular mini skirt were fashionable.  

The start of the bikini bathing suit

Jackie Kennedy introduced the pillbox hat which I hated, but evidently I was in the minority.  Bell-bottoms, tie-dye, batik fabrics and paisley prints were popular in the 60's.  My wife and I covered the walls of our dining room with colorful paisley print wallpaper.  As I look back, it was awful!  In downtown Lancaster John Wayne was playing at the Capitol Theatre while "Tiger Bay" was playing across the street at the Grand.  Both theaters closed in the mid-60's for the redevelopment project in center city Lancaster which forever spoiled a few blocks of historic Lancaster.  In 1960 John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon and the U.S. decided to send 3,500 troops to Vietnam.  

Our first home in Grandview Heights, Lancaster, PA

The following year Alan Shepard became the first American in space and the Berlin Wall became reality.  In 1962 Spider-Man made his debut, the Beatles released their first single "Love Me Do", and the world was on edge during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Oh yeah, LDub managed to graduate from high school and begin college.  I was the first one in my extended family to go to college.  1963 saw the deaths of U.S. President John F. Kennedy as well as U.S. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King.  

The wallpaper was spectacular!

The Ford Mustang came on the market in '64 and my Aunt Doris had one in her garage.  Then Mary Quant came along the following year with the mini-skirt.  The TV version of Star Trek began to air in '66 and I got my first teaching job in York County, PA even though I had not graduated from college as of the date.  Teachers were in such demand that you could get a temporary certificate.   The Rolling Stone published its first magazine the following year.  Now 1967 just happened to be the year that the Woods Family began when I married my sweetheart Carol; the most memorable year in my life.  Richard Nixon won the White House and Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in '68 while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men on the Moon in 1969.  The 1960s hold many memories as well as some of the best times in my life as they surely must have for anyone who lived in that decade.  Memories have filled my life for over seven decades now, but the 60s are still the most memorable.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.