My parents got their very first television set sixty years ago. How can I be so sure of the year? My mother often told us the story as we were growing up. Apparently my father thought this new invention, television, was merely a passing fad and didn't want to purchase one. My mother's response was a firm one. "Passing fad or not, the Coronation of the Queen of England is being shown and I want to see it." Because he loved my mother, and to keep the peace, my Dad went out and bought something like this:
(I won't try and solicit sympathy by mentioning that we didn't get a "color" set until I went to high school. That would be childish.......)
Fast forward about thirty years, and the Englishman and I are planning our wedding. I discovered, just a few weeks before the date, that Gone With the Wind, one of my absolute favorite books and movie was going to be shown on television for the first time the night of our wedding. I admitted to the Englishman that I was feeling a bit conflicted -
get married .......watch Gone With the Wind........hmmmmm
Without hesitation, the Englishman went out and purchased one of the first VCR's (a type of cd recorder for you young folks) so that he could record the movie for me and we could still go ahead with the ceremony. My hero.
In the coming weeks, thanks to my tech savvy Englishman, we will be watching all the coverage of Queen Elizabeth and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations live, via the BBC. " Sixty years on..." as Elton John used to sing.
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