Memoirs, Or Shadows Of What Has Been
By Peter Landry

Chapter Forty-Three: Family Times: 1992

While the move resulted in prices of some goods and services becoming 3 to 5 times more expensive, on January 2, 1992, its president, Boris Yeltsin, put an end to price controls that Russia had long in place: a move which amounted to the death knell of Communism. By the 15th, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began to break up. This resulted in Slovenia and Croatia gaining their independence and international recognition in some Western countries. On the 19th of January, the leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, made a speech in Shenzhen, a speech which started China on its right-wing march towards a free market economy.

The end of the command economies of these countries, as noted above, led to a lessening of the risk of atomic world wide war. Before January of 1992 was out, on the 26th, Yeltsin announced that Russia will stop targeting cities of the United States and her allies with nuclear weapons. In return, George H. W. Bush announced that the United States and her allies will stop targeting Russia and the remaining communist states with nuclear weapons. On February 1st, President Bush met with President Yeltsin at Camp David; there, they formally declared that the Cold War was over.

Bill Clinton, the Arkansas Governor, came fully into the national attention, when, on March 10th, he was declared the likely winner of the Democratic Party presidential primaries. That July, he accepted his party's presidential nomination on behalf of the "forgotten middle class."

During August: Canada, Mexico, and the United States announced that a deal has been reached on the North American Free Trade Agreement; it was formally signed on December 17, 1992; it lasted, as signed, until 2018. During the fall of 1992, Pope John Paul II issued an apology, and lifted the edict of the Inquisition against Galileo Galilei. So too, Clinton was elected the 42nd President of the United States. In England, Elizabeth II described the year as an annus horribilis (horrible year), due to various scandals damaging the image of the Royal Family, as well as the Windsor Castle fire.

In my home province, a dreadful event (rarely experienced in Nova Scotia), at the City of Sydney, on May 7th, occurred, a multiple murder at a fast food place, McDonald's. The event received international attention, as three employees where killed and a fourth was left permanently disabled during a botched robbery.

In the meantime the camping endeavors of Margo and I continued, often with our best friends, Roger and Paula Churchill. Family gatherings happened, including the "Trunk Opening Party" which held mementos of when the kids were young which I had saved; the grand-kids were growing up and were regularly entertained by us; Chief Pierre was in full swing; and, the mothers were brought off to Ingonish (The Keltic Lodge); All of which are recorded in the pictures (see below).

The top songs for 1992:
k.d. lang's Constant Craving
George Michael, Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Mariah Carey's' I'll Be There
Richard Marx's Hazard

As for the top movies of 1992:
Basic Instinct
Scent of a Woman
My Cousin Vinny
Unforgiven