Where Were You?

Funny how we remember certain events in our lives as if they were yesterday.

June 1994 I was a 13 year old boy.

I attended my brother's high school graduation where one of the speakers spoke about a young man's trials to become a great football player.  I remember being moved by this story, and realizing that I could do anything if I just put my mind to it.  The story touched me.

The young man in the story was OJ Simpson.

A few short days after that moving graduation speech, news broke that OJ Simpson's ex-wife was found murdered.

On June 17, 1994 my family watched in horror as OJ Simpson led a ridiculous police chase in his now infamous white bronco.

I sat in silence.

Was this man guilty of killing his wife?  How could this man be the same person in that story that motivated me a few nights ago?

That summer was a long summer.

The trial was must-see TV for people around the world.

You didn't miss it.

As the trial went on, and more evidence was brought out in the open, it was clear OJ Simpson murdered his wife.  I was shocked, and let down.

Then it happened.

October 3, 1995

I was sitting in my 9th grade history class at Pacific Junior high.  Our teacher had turned on the TV because the jury had come back with their verdict.

I remember thinking there could be no way he would be found not guilty.

The TV kept showing OJ.  You could tell he knew he was guilty.

All of us were glued to the TV.

"We the Jury find the defendant Orenthal James Simpson, NOT GUILTY..." 

He got off.

We all sat in silence.  I can still see my history teacher with her hand covering her mouth.  She kept shaking her head in shocked silence.

I don't think we did much in class that day.

As a young man, I still couldn't believe OJ Simpson was the same man in the story I had heard a year earlier at my brother's graduation.

almost 16 years have passed since that verdict was read.

It seems like it was yesterday.

Where were you?