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.