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Perspective: A lesson learned, a memory corrected

A program and unused ticket
Mary Gardner
A program and unused ticket

I have an unused ticket to the August 12, 1966, Beatles concert held at the International Amphitheatre. I was supposed to go with my friends accompanied by one of my friends’ older brothers. But there were riots in Chicago that made my parents feel it was unsafe for us to go. I was the only one not allowed to go. I was devastated and very mad at my parents.

Now, here’s the rest of my memory from that time. All these years I thought it was the riots during the Democratic National Convention that prevented me from seeing that Beatles concert. It was only recently that it was graciously brought to my attention that the convention was in 1968! Of course it was. 1966 would not have been a presidential election year! My memory corrector found that there were riots about one month before the concert - the Chicago West Side riots July 12 – 15, 1966.

I feel better now that my memory has been corrected. It does make me think about today’s world of “fake news” and AI generated misinformation. We need to be vigilant and critical consumers of all information we receive. Now I know we must also be sure that with the passage of time our memories are accurate as possible before we tell our stories.

I now have an accurate story to tell, and I do have that unused ticket for Orchestra Section B, row 53, Seat 4 that cost $5.75.

Mary's unused ticket to ride
Mary Gardner
Mary's unused ticket to ride

Mary Gardner is a reading specialist. She taught elementary school for 30 years, many of those in Oregon, Illinois. Mary has also been teaching at Northern Illinois University in the College of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction for 22 years. She enjoys teaching reading courses to undergraduate students who are working on their degrees in Elementary Education. Mary is the mother of two grown sons, has the world's best daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.