I'm fortunate enough to remember both. In summer 1969 my family spent 6 weeks in Syracuse while my dad took courses at Syracuse University toward his doctorate. We rented a third floor apartment at Cliff House Apartments on James Street. It was a great memorable summer. Every morning as he drove to school my dad would drop me off at a 9 hole par 3 golf course called Sunnycrest Park. I played round after round for 50 cents daily fee. I packed lunch and listened to the older guys share golf stories in the A frame clubhouse. That was the summer of Tony Jacklin. He was the dominant PGA player for a while.
In late afternoon my parents and sister would show up for a late 9 holes nearing dusk. My sister had a flailing swing and didn't always make contact but we encouraged her. Actually my parents encouraged her. I tried to suppress laughter.
Then we'd eat out somewhere before returning to the apartment.
Lots of famous events that summer. I remember looking at a news rack when stories broke about Chappaquiddick, the drowning death involving Teddy Kennedy. My dad was distraught. He expected Teddy to run for president and succeed. It was also the summer of Woodstock, lots of media coverage even if I didn't fully understand the significance.
On edit: I knew there was another major happening that summer while we were in Syracuse. I finally remembered. The world was fixated on a royal event involving Prince Charles, who was a young guy. My mom spent all day watching it, absolutely riveted at the royal pageantry. I think it happened in Wales.
Anyway, we watched the lunar landing late at night in our apartment. I'll never forget being bundled up and needing to use the bathroom but not wanting to miss anything. It wasn't like we knew the exact course of events or their timing.
My dad was annoyed that the coverage was in black and white and not color. I told him he had to be kidding. He was serious. Keep in mind that black and white programming was all but phased out in perhaps 1966.
The words, "One small step for man...," became famous immediately. Then the whispers that it should be, or had been, "for a man..." For anyone who wonders, that topic was pronto, not years away.
I've detailed the first Super Bowl win previously on this site. We were season ticket holders. I paced the living room nervously along with my family in the early stages of that game, fretting every play, until a remarkable calm took over early in the second quarter when it was still scoreless. Hey, we're controlling things. And not by a little bit. Line of scrimmage looks great. This isn't like the Dallas game a year ago, when the other team had as many great players as we did. Everything is going to work out. It was one of the first instances I remember of relying on big picture logic without thinking I had to senselessly analyze and anguish every play.
