I think, with some regularity, about the prominence of dates, in our lives.
During a given year, so many dates stand out--dates with personal, or historical, meaning (and historical dates often feel deeply personal).
There is the date of our own birth; the birth dates of loved ones; wedding anniversaries; the dates when loved ones died.
Today, the 15th of January, is of course the anniversary of Dr. King's birth, in 1929. Today, had he lived, he would have been 95 years old.
I think of the tremendous burden Dr. King faced, through his years as a public figure: his awareness, ever-present, of the possibility of assassination.
Which, in the end, happened, on April 4th of 1968--when he was shot while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
It is astonishing (and deeply saddening) to remember that Dr. King--one of the most towering figures in America's history--was only 39, at his death.
There are, certainly, many other dates of great significance.
One thinks of November 22nd. September 11th. December 7, 1941. D-Day, on June 6, 1944. The death, on June 6, 1968--two months after Dr. King's death--of Senator Kennedy.
February 9, 1964 (sixty years ago next month)--when The Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan's program.
August 8th, 1974: President Nixon's announcement, in a television speech, that he would resign from office the next day.
Then, dates which are more recent:
January 6, 2021, at the Capitol.
I am unsure how many people remember, specifically, February 24, 2022 as being the date Russia began its war against Ukraine. I suspect millions of people--beyond the area of Ukraine itself--likely do remember it, and one hopes the date will continue to be kept in mind.
And three months ago: October 7th, when Hamas committed its invasion of Israel--which led, quickly, to the Israel-Hamas war.
In addition to today's anniversary of Dr. King's birth, there is today another anniversary--the date of which I had not recalled, until watching a recent CNN special. Fifteen years ago--January 15th, 2009--the "Miracle on the Hudson" occurred, when Captain Sullenberger landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River. Everyone on board--155 people--survived.
Years after the fact--or only weeks, months after the fact--we feel, often with great emotion, the effect and meaning of certain dates. Our awareness of such dates gives to us (in an evocative, associative way), an ongoing sense of our personal histories--and of national history, world history. An awareness of the calendar (and all of its particular associations, from both the distant and recent past) becomes, indeed, a significant part of our lives.
