I learned that lesson early at the age 8... in 1968... That year not one, but two prominent leaders who dedicated themselves to making changes in this time of agitation were gunned down. The word assassination was added in my ever growing vocabulary.

The first eye opener was the death of Dr. Martin Luther King. My parents were strong supporters of Civil Rights and I was brought up in the liberal minded environment of San Francisco. My father was an immigrant who came to America for a new life. My mother wanted to be a part of social change.

Just a few months later, I sat watching the California primary on the television with my father. We were excited (like so many other Americans) to see Robert Kennedy take the lead and win the Democratic nomination. I recall the elation in my household as it now seemed there was hope for the future....Then in a matter of minutes there was chaos. I remember watching the TV as they showed Kennedy laying in blood, the newsman shockingly announcing he had been shot. I then ran upstairs to tell my mother who had been washing our dinner dishes what had happened. I'll never forget her following me downstairs to the TV and she started to cry. I was only 8 but it sure seemed clear to me that if someone nonconventional became to powerful , boom..bye bye.

It was a crazy time of political unrest, the world as I was intoduced to it, was restless and demanding:
The long and drawn out Vietnam War, the rise and fall of MLK, the curse of the Kennedy clan, Lyndon and Ladybird Johnson, Nixon and his antics, Huey Newton and the Black Panthers, Race Riots in Watts, desegregation, Timothy Leary, Turn on Tune in and Drop out, Hippies, Yippies, Woodstock, Feminism, Gloria Steinem, Malcom X, Mohammed Ali, Flower Power, Summer of Love, Cesar Chavez (no grapes were bought at our house), Lenny Bruce, Smothers Brothers, Redd Foxx, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan and The times they are a changin', Gurus from India, Meditation, Carlos Castenada in search of Don Juan and the brujo, Ken Kesey, Merry Pranksters, the British Invasion, Sympathy for the Devil, Govenor Ronald Reagan, NASA and their race to have an American on the moon............

Life before the internet, cellphones, MTV, going postal, ADD, portable GPS devices, Blackberries, Bluetooth, Game boys, playstations and reality TV.

No, Seeing Bobby Kennedy's assassination was the first reality TV I viewed.
Nonetheless, I still look ahead, laugh and ride my bikes as much as possible. All in all, appreciate every day for what it is.