John F. Kennedy ,1963/What's "your" story?

[Borderstone]

I'm sure I don't need to tell most of you that are mature enough to remember,that 40 years ago,next month,the country mourned it's fallen President. I can't say I was there in '63 of course but my parents could.

On November 20th of that year my Mom & Dad got married and took a honeymoon to Florida.
They had a great time from what I was told.
Two days later though,JFK was in Dallas and the tragedy struck. My parents were out shopping and saw on TV that the President had been shot and then later was gone. They cut their honeymoon short and went to D.C. They were there the day of the funeral procession,my Dad even took photos. We still have them and a wall picture of Kennedy and the First Lady Jackie Kennedy.

For the people of that time,that was their 9/11. You could even say it their 11+11. (11/22). Ironically,1 week before my birth,his brother Robert was killed also and buried June 12th,1968. I was born the next day.
I'd like to know from those of you that were there in 1963,where you were,what you were doing and how you took the news. My parents,were simply dumbstruck,then later mortified. ....end.

[brink]

I was home sick from school and ironing my dad's shirts. I remember they showed a segment of one of Kennedy's speeches, Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. I wrote it in my coloring book. I remember Bobby's murder also, I had nightmares over that, I was so concerned about his children and Ethel being alone. Both were very tramatic even as a child.

[Auburn Annie]

I remember them both. I was 11 when JFK was assassinated. The first we knew was that he had been wounded. Classes halted, we prayed. When it was known he had died, we were dismissed from school, sent home. I remember people out in the streets in tears.

I actually was listening to the late night radio live when Bobby Kennedy was shot. In some ways that was worse (poor Rose Kennedy) - I met Bobby briefly a few years earlier when he stopped by our town for a political rally. Our civics class was allowed to go to city hall. We met him on the steps, and he handed a bouquet of red and white carnations someone had given him to our classmate, Bonnie Foster. Whatever their personal behavior or political actions, they were charismatic, dedicated, sharp-witted men, true believers.

[gwen snyder]

more than what we were doing on a personal level (I was at recess in elementary school when our class was asked to bow our heads for a moment of silence and memorial for the passing of the President), I recall the events that were forming and growing in our enegetic country, the space program, and I had already decided I wanted to be an astronaut. I just felt dreams were dying for our beloved country.

[Rebecca]

I was three and in nursery school (they didn't have preschools yet, at least in my part of the world) but I do remember it. My nursery school was on the campus of a public elementary school, and the principal called all the teachers on the intercom and told tham that the president had been shot. I recall thinking, "What president?" because in my world at that time, there was a president of the Little League, a president of the Lions' Club, a president of the Campfire Girls, a president of the local Teamsters' Union, of the PTA, and probably more organizations that I'm not remembering, and I wondered which one had been shot. Then my teacher mentioned his name, and I realized she was talking about President Kennedy. We took a walk through the neighborhood, presumably because the teacher was too upset to teach, and came across the mother of one of the children in my preschool class. She told my teacher that the president had died, and the teacher told us. I'm not sure how necessary it was to tell a group of three- and four-year-olds about the death of the president, but I suppose we were all going to find out anyway, and I don't recall anyone being hysterical, with the possible exception of the teachers.
My thoughts were mostly about Jackie and the kids. I was aware of them because my parents were staunch Catholics and democrats. We had a framed picture of JFK on our wall. I remember lots of "Look" and "Life" magazines with their family pictures. My mom said that they'd have to move out of the White House, and I was worried about where they would go. I had no comprehension of their wealth, so I envisioned them moving to a shack like ones we had on the outskirts of town where one of my older sister's fatherless classmates lived.

[Borderstone]

That's a touching tale Rebecca. I know,kids that age have absolutely no true comprehension of what it means to pass on or get shot down like that. I know I had no true comprehension of it until my very late teens. I can only imagine how confusing that must have been. I could compare it to when I was 9 and the news of Elvis passing away was announced. I heard what they said but the ultimate truth was beyond my understanding.

Thanks for the reply and have a nice day!

------------------
Borderstone,gonna post some lines tonight!

[This message has been edited by Borderstone (edited January 09, 2004).]