Nice little brain teaser I heard earlier

[Rochester]

When Mark was a very young boy, he saw something that most men only have one chance in all their lives to see, although he did not recognize it at the time.
When Mark was an old man, he saw it again, and died very soon thereafter.
What is it?

(I'll post the answer later, if no one guesses it first)

[longship]

1. I will PM you...

[Half-Century Man]

2. Halley's Comet

[Rochester]

3. We have a winner!

Your prize is a red and blue Democratic donkey

[irisblue]

4. yes Halleys Comet

last here 1985/6, next time 2061/2. One of my nieces was born during the last trip, I bought for her a whole bunch of comet stuff.

[pinboy3niner]

5. I was fond of Comet Hale–Bopp

1997--and with lots of mispronunciations.

Its lengthy period of visibility and extensive coverage in the media meant that Hale–Bopp was probably the most-observed comet in history, making a far greater impact on the general public than the return of Halley's Comet in 1986, and certainly seen by a greater number of people than witnessed any of Halley's previous appearances. For instance, 69% of Americans had seen Hale–Bopp by April 9, 1997.[60]

Hale–Bopp was a record-breaking comet—the farthest comet from the Sun discovered by amateurs,[20] with the largest well-measured cometary nucleus known after 95P/Chiron,[15] and it was visible to the naked eye for twice as long as the previous record-holder.[16] It was also brighter than magnitude 0 for eight weeks, longer than any other recorded comet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp#Legacy

Though that didn't work out so well for the Heaven's Gate cult.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. I remember Hale-Bopp particularly.

It was truly spectacular. I've been an OTR driver most of my adult life and I remember being able to pull off out in the dark wilderness (!) of the lower 48 numerous times while it was visible and have a look.

The blue portion of the tail was very striking on moonless nights.

Quite beautiful.

[pinboy3niner]

10. i remember my co-workers joking about it and bungling the name

I'm waiting for the next unknown comet to exact revenge on them.

[SheilaT]

6. When Halley's Comet came around in 1986,

we made sure our son, then just three, saw it. A few days later we were having dinner with one of the elderly uncles in the family, and prompted our son to tell Uncle Lou about seeing the comet. And Uncle Lou said exactly what I hoped he'd say, which was, When I was just a little older than you I saw Halley's Comet the last time around.

Every so often I remind my son of this, and he'll probably be alive the next time, and I hope something similar happens with him.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. That is very cool!

What a fascinating and loving legacy.

[SheilaT]

9. Isn't it though?

Here's a better one: July 4, 1976, I was on the Mall in Washington DC for the Bicentennial. So was my future husband. We met several years later, married, had two kids. Recently I did the math, and realized that in 2076 my oldest son will be only 93, and the younger one a mere 89. They come from long-lived stock, so I'm comfortable saying that. Any way, I've told them both they absolutely need to plan to go to DC and be on the Mall on July 4, 2076, the Tricentennial, and tell every single person they meet that their parents were there exactly one hundred years earlier. How cool would that be.

So now I've decided to plan to be there July 4, 2026, whatever the correct name of that anniversary is. And insist my sons be there also. I can tell everyone I meet I was there in fifty years earlier.

I believe in long term planning. There's a solar eclipse I'm looking forward to seeing just days before my 97th birthday.