Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

Daily writing prompt

This is one of those difficult questions that requires a little too much self-examination. A little more than I am willing to do at 6:39am on a Saturday morning at least.

A year I would re-live… The answer, of course, is none of them. It is also all of them. The catch is that I would re-live them all only if I could do so without changing anything. There was a time in my past when I wanted to go back and change everything, especially myself. I was basically cripplingly shy and afraid of everything. Socially speaking I was useless and romantically… well, that was literally non-existent.

Then in April of 2007 I went on a first date with someone remarkable. On some strange subconscious level I sort of said fuck it and got over all of my hangups and some how, magically, that first date turned into my first relationship which then turned into my marriage. At that point it occurred to me that all of the problems I dealt with before April 2007 were just steps on the path that lead me to the place… to the me… that I needed to be. Those experiences made me someone that Jen could find value in. Someone that Jen could fall in love with and marry and allow to be a step father to her two children.

That is why I don’t want to re-live even a single day, because doing so runs the risk of changing the eventual outcome. That is literally the last thing in the universe that I would ever want. I wouldn’t mind observing the me that I used to be, but I wouldn’t want to do so in a way that would affect any decisions I had ever made. I would especially like to re-observe everything post April 2007 as that would allow me to see myself becoming that one thing I had always believed I would never be… happy. That’s a movie I wouldn’t mind seeing.

So the short answer to what year or age would I want to re-live is none. As hard as it is to believe, I think I got it right on the first try. I mean, how weird is that?

What historical event fascinates you the most?

Daily writing prompt

I’ve always been a history nerd. There are so many things I would like to go back and witness. Today’s response to the daily writing prompt is going to be a list of things I would go back to see if I could time travel. It’s important to state the rules of time travel though. In my case I would follow the Quantum Leap rules, only not the way Sam did it. I would be Al. Al didn’t actually time travel, he was just able to see what Sam was seeing. He could not interact with anything. He had no affect, and nothing effected him*. He was just a witness. That’s how I want to time travel. I don’t want to step on the wrong bug and change things, you know? Safety first.

So what events would I witness? What are the most fascinating historical events?

• The first moon landing. Wouldn’t it be cool to be there and watch Armstrong come down that ladder? I would probably want to visit all of the moon landings.
• Unfortunately, many of the historical events I am fascinated by are battles. I would want to witness the battle of Gettysburg. Specifically Little Roundtop on the second day, and Pickett’s charge on the third day.
• Possibly the first thing I would do if I could Al-style-Time-Travel would be to see The Beatles live in a bar in Hamburg during one of their residencies. I’d probably catch a few shows in Germany and a few shows at The Cavern Club in Liverpool. All of them would be pre-Beatlemania. Once things went crazy you couldn’t hear them at any of their shows over all of the screaming. I would want to be able to hear every glorious note.
• The signing of the Declaration of Independence
• Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox
• Lincoln’s inauguration addresses, the Gettysburg address, and his assassination. Also, pretty much anything Lincoln ever did in public.
• Every single Rush concert starting at the Coff-In and ending in Los Angeles. All of them. Literally.
• Countless concerts and sporting events.

Unfortunately I need to start my morning routine now so I will cut this post off here. I might add an addendum later as more things come to me, or maybe I’ll just add a second post. This will do for now though.

*Did I use effect and affect correctly? I would look it up to make sure, but I am way too lazy right now. Let’s just assume I got it right.