What WAS Happening?? These are some of the major events and/or inventions I remember and how they affected my life.

During most of my childhood, there was war. I was born in 1942, during WWII, and began school during the Korean 'conflict.' Then, there was the 'cold war' with its threats, fears, bomb shelters, etc. It's no wonder a dance called the 'jitterbug' was so popular. Everyone had the jitters.

War wasn't our only worry, however. There was polio. Only recently, with AIDS, the Ebola and West Nile viruses, etc. have people been so afraid of disease as we were of polio. The cruelest thing about polio was that it struck so many children. One of my first memories was listening to a woman tell about a child in an 'iron lung.' When the polio vaccine was developed, mothers and children stood in lines miles long to get the vaccine, either 'live' vaccine' or the 'sugar cube' with 'dead' vaccine. Polio was probably a parent's greatest fear for their child, at that time.

On May 14, 1948, against all the odds, the modern state of Israel was reborn. In our community, there were few, if any, Jews. This news was important because it was a 'sign' of the 'end of time.' Many believed that this event ushered in the end times, and that Jesus' return was imminent. It was much, much more, but that's what I remember at the time.

Some questions and answers about Israel's 'statehood' are here:

http://www.yahoodi.com/peace/warindep.html