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Note: Of course, during the cold war in the late '50's & 60's there was always talk about a nuclear war. Knowing what these bombs could do was frightening and there were always pictures of the bigger and bigger bombs being tested. In October, your father and I had been dating for almost a year and were to be married in December as plans were already in the works. Before Kennedy's speach, there was speculation as to what was going on in Cuba so tension was pretty bad. During the Presidents speech I was driving home from work (I was working at NASA and driving to Palo Alto) and I can remember being so frightened and scared...expecting to see that bright-white flash of a nuclear bomb going off as I was driving. I thought how sad it was that I wasn't going to be able to have children and that we were all going to die!
That night David said to pack some things and that we were going to go to my parents cabin in Strawberry as he knew that we were going to be at war and that the missiles would be coming our way soon. So that's what we did. We stayed at the cabin, waiting for the end of the world for several days, and listened to the news. I can't exactly remember when we left, but when it looked like we weren't going to be burnt toast, we came home and watched the news on the unfolding events.
I never knew the extent of how close we came to having a nuclear war until I watched a TV show on the Cuban Missile Crisis called Thirteen Days (2000). There was a lot we didn't know about at the time of the crisis until now. They still have unanswered questions that we may never find out, but that had to be the most difficult time in my life and for millions of others. I'm grateful I got the chance to have my three beautiful children and hope that the world never gets this close to having a nuclear war again!
Donna DeVoto 10-16-2003
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