Friday, 1963

      It was a sunny and crisp autumn day that November.  I, like most of the kids in my
neighborhood was home having lunch.  In those days Mom liked to listen to the radio
for enjoyment while she did her normal chores around the house.  In between music and commercials there would be maybe five to ten minutes of news, weather and sports. This was long before 24 hour news like today. The top story I remember hearing was the President and Mrs. Kennedy had arrived in Dallas, Texas for a
political fund raising trip.  Soon the music came back on and it was time to head back to school.  Almost all of us lived within walking distance, and we had time for some touch football before the bell rang and we went back into the classroom.  I was just getting settled in for Sister William's class when we heard and saw Mother Superior
at the classroom door.  Her and Sister William had a short conversation and you could tell right away something was wrong. I wondered who was going to be in trouble now !  Sister William started to speak and her voice started to tremble.  The President has been shot.  Children please bow your heads and pray for him. Sister tried to answer our questions but she was overcome with emotion. We were told we would be let out of school shortly and to go home and pray for the President.  I seem to remember that
there was complete silence among all the students, not just in our class but throughout the school. I ran home as fast as I could and turned on the TV.  My Mom had tears in her eyes and sat down with me as we watched Walter Cronkite give us as much information as he had at the time. Someone handed Mr. Cronkite a piece of paper, and I vividly remember him reading it to himself, then removing his glasses and wiping away tears, then he said President Kennedy has died at sometime after 1 p.m. this afternoon Dallas time.  There was complete silence for good while.
      That whole weekend  was spent with the TV on watching the news about the events surrounding the assassination.  I tried to occupy myself to take my mind off of
what happened, but I could not. I was afraid, what is going to happen next? Could we end up going to war? It had only been a year since the Cuban Missile Crises. Many thoughts were going through my head.  The only solace I could find was to pray. Pray that God would help us all find away to get through this difficult time.
     I was too young to know anything about the President's politics or his agenda, all I know is he and his wife projected a vitality and strength and gracefulness that made me proud to be an American. President Kennedy was a shining example for any young man my age, to emulate.  As I got older and read and heard stories about him, it removed some of the luster on his image, but I still respect and admire him even till this day.
     November 22, 1963 is a day that I will never forget, not only for what happened to the President, but also a lesson my Father taught me while talking about the assassination that weekend. Never presume that things will suddenly fall apart because
you are not there. Everyone is replaceable.  Our President was killed but the country did not stop.  Life goes on. Enjoy life while you can because you never know when your time will come.

Father's Day

     Today is Father's day, a day we honor those who helped nurture us when we were young.  What is a Father or the more common term Dad.  There is no program or class
to show a man how to be a Dad.  Many can father a child, but so many have failed at being a Father or Dad.  I think of my Dad often, he has been gone from this earth almost twenty years. Was he a good Father or Dad? He had been on his own since he was seven years old.  His Father died and in those days it was hard to keep a family together. He and his brothers were sent to a farm to live and work because his Mother couldn't afford to keep the family together. In those days the government didn't pay a woman to have more children, there was no welfare, it was fend for yourself.  I remember him telling stories of how he and his brothers were treated, he said they ran away everyday, only to be sent back because they had to work. There were no child labor laws then , they were cheap labor.
     How did this young boy with this very tough childhood learn how to be a Father?
Maybe he decided he would not let his sons grow up in the same environment he endured. He wasn't very educated, very little formal schooling, but he seemed to know everything. Whenever there was a family crisis, he was the steady ship's captain. He never let us see his emotions. How he must have felt when my Mom was sick with a lung disease and he had four mouths to feed, two of us under the age of two. My younger brother had just been born, only eighteen months after me. He was able to handle it all, going to work, visiting the hospital and making sure we were provided for. I never heard him complain. No one taught him what to do when  events in the family did not go as planned.  Somehow he knew what had to be done.
     My Father taught me so many things in life. He showed me more by example than by word. His family was the most important thing in his life. Not just our immediate family but also his birth family. He had many brothers and a couple of step-brothers
also sisters and step-sisters. I remember him always having them over for visits or us getting in the car and visiting them. I knew he had a love for all of them.  I remember how he cried when Uncle Rudy died. Rudy was a step-brother, but in my Dad's eyes
there was no step.
     Take the time today to appreciate your Dad. Remember there is no school for fatherhood. If your Dad taught you one thing in your life that you have used to make your children better people, than you are very lucky.
     If like me, your Dad has left a lasting impression on you, and you miss him everyday than he has earned the title "FATHER".