Nov 9... 20 years ago

This spring was the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation; a month or so ago, there was a 20 year reunion...which I didn't attend. I was curious though... brings back a lot of memories.

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of something bigger... far bigger. I don't have a lot of clear memories of the day, but someone (likely our floor counselor) came to our door room and said we needed to go to the common room where the big screen tv was, history was being made. I went... and sat there in silent awe watching people an ocean away in the dark lit by bright lights (guard tower lights?) and flash bulbs tear down a piece of the Berlin Wall. They swarmed on and up and over it. My memory is of watching a surreal event with a feeling of wonder, awe, amazement. If this is really happening, what else can happen? In fact, What won't happen? Anything was possible.
And it was true.
The Velvet Revolution in Czech. The (not-at-all-velvet) revolution in Romania. East and West Germany ceased to exist as separate countries and reunified. And other revolutions, resistances... the crumbling of the Soviet Union.
And even to a young person- for whom nothing ever seemed to happen fast enough- it all happened quickly. I knew it was history and that, even though I was watching from across the water, I was 'watching' history happen.

I didn't dream then that I would ever visit (never mind live in) part of what had been the USSR. My life then was all about other things- classes and getting through undergrad as fast as possible. Later, we heard stories about Romania, what it was like to be there during the Communist regime and the revolution. It was all fascinating, but I never connected it with myself. Ever.

In October, 2000, I moved to Ukraine. A brand new world to me. The next summer, I visited Germany for the first time- more new stuff, but it felt like home- America with a German accent. The following summer, my friend and I spent a week in eastern Germany and later we visited Berlin. It was fascinating. I remember one story we heard in that summer:
Sunday morning, November 12, some of our friends were together in the home of a mutual friend in Berlin... just together. A knock at the door. The knock answered. A family they knew from the East standing there, Can we come in? Everyone in shock. They spent the morning together and a lot of tears were shed. The family from the east was visiting East Berlin that weekend and heard that the wall had come down. Can it be true? They drove towards a checkpoint (Checkpoint Charlie was the most well known), expecting to be stopped any minute. Nothing happened. In amazement, they reached the checkpoint and drove through. Still no barriers, no guards, nothing. They're across, in the West! Where to go? Let's see if our friends from 'way back when' are still where they were... and off they go... and get there in time to drop in on a very special gathering of special friends, the icing on the cake... Old friends reunited...
To hear it told by some of the participants was truly goose-bump material. (I hope I've recounted it more or less accurately here.)
We stayed with the mother of a friend in Berlin. My friend took me to see Checkpoint Charlie and I had my pic taken there with Flat Stanley at a USSR memorabilia kiosk... I need to find that pic!

So- this has all been rolling around in my head the past few days as the 20th anniversary of this monumental event approached. Here are some of the links that have come through my news feeds the past few days...and one from wikipedia about the wall (you can get good stuff there if you filter it through your brain cells!) ;)

The wall came down- eyewitness account

wiki link on the wall

Peter Turnley's essay on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the iron curtain and the accompanying slide show, narrated by Peter (just wait out the ad)
an essay and slide show about East Germany
Kottke.org's post