Tuesday, November 22, 2005

FORTY-TWO YEARS

I wanted to post this before I left for work this morning but didn't have time, so I'm posting it now.

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing 42 years ago today at 1:00 pm Central Standard Time? That would have been November 22, 1963.

I remember where I was.

I was in 5th grade at that time. All of us boys were in the classroom while the girls were in the Gym for Phy. ED.

It was right around 1:00 when Miss Neiman, the school secretary, came in and told Mrs. Behrens, my teacher, that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas, while traveling in a motorcade. It was shortly after that when we found out that President Kennedy had died of his wounds. All I could do was lay my head down on my desk and cry. I think we all wept that day.

It's been 42 years since that tragic day, but I still remember it as if it happened only yesterday.

If you remember I would like you to tell me where you were, what you were doing, and how the news of President Kennedy's assasination effected you.

8 comments:

Tina said...

Grandpa Eddie: My parents are coming back to Canton OH from Cleveland this evening (they had to go to the VA for my dad's constant knee and back issues-- his knee was removed and replaced due to shrapnel, and 2 of his vertebra were compacted when he landed after getting his knee blown to bits-- and they went up there on Sunday evening and stayed until tonight to get some early Christmas shopping done for 2 days at the Cleveland stores) but they will be stopping by my house sometime before 9pm to pick up their keys b/c I had to feed and water their critters while they were gone. They also have to pick up their dog from the emergency vet's b/c I had to rush the damned stupid animal there yesterday b/c he was so sick. Why was he sick? B/c he ate a Fisher Price "Lil People" plastic rooster of my kiddo's probably a few wks ago, according to the vet, and he had to have surgery to remove it... sigh... damned canine.I'll show him your link, and I'm sure he'll get back with ya.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Tina,
Thanks kid. I look foward to hearing from your Dad.

I hope the pup is gonna be OK. Isn't it funny how our "pets" are so much like kids/family members.

Tina said...

hi Eddie. this is Tina's dad. i don't know anything about blogs but Tina will help me leave this comment.She's a heck of a kid, ain't she? and she is one smart cookie. thanks for always being so nice to my kid.
i remember the day Kennedy was shot as clear as day.I was a senior in high school. i was in the locker room changing clothes for my swim class and the principal came over the PA system and anounced that the President had died from his gunshot injuries.I felt like someone had punched the air out of my chest and I wanted to cry but didn't want anyone to see me crying but alot of guys were crying anyway. All of the students were let go for the day and i wanted to find Tina's mom. she was in English class. I found her at her locker and we both just stood there and cried. we had only been dating for a few months and I was afraid she'd think i was weak for crying but she she was crying so hard so i couldn't help but cry too. I walked her home and her mom looked terrible. she had been crying too and she rushed us inside and we all ate soup and tunafish sandwiches and cried at the dining room table together. I went home just before dinnertime and my parents wanted to eat supper and go to Mass. I hated going to church but i really wanted to go that night becuase i wanted to pray for the person who did this to Kennedy to be caught. but i guess all the praying in teh world never made that happen. I remember not being able to sleep that whole weekend and trying to help out around the house with chores and errands because my mom was in such a state. it makes me sick to think of a great man like him cut down in his prime when we have this fuckin asshole Bush in office and the only person who ever had the balls to try to take him out had a bum arm and a dud grenade.
again, thanks for being so nice to my kid and keep those political cartoons coming.

Anonymous said...

Eddie, I was working at a company, Hammond Organ Co., which was a few blocks from my home, and I would come home for lunch. As we were eating, the CBS soap, my wife was watching, was interupted and Walter Cronkite came on with the first report that JFK had been shot and had been rushed to Parkland Hospital. Lunch breaks were short and I returned to work. My wife called a little while later saying that Kennedy had died. I believe that was either on a Friday, or the company shutdown and sent everybody home because I remember that TV was on 24 hours a day, the Tipen shooting, the Ruby shooting of Oswald, all the preparations and finally the funeral. Except for sleep, and I did very little, we were glued to the TV for a period of at least four days. Maybe some tears but mainly we were totally numb-struck. And the political life of this country has never been in better hands or has ever been the same since that sad event.

There are a lot of conspiracy theories about the assassination, but I have always been impressed by these amazing similaries between the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy:

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both are associated with civil rights.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both were shot in the head.

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, Kennedy's successor, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are comprised of fifteen letters.

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Tina's Dad,
You're right, Tina is a very smart kid. I think she has her parents to thank alot for that, they brought her up right.

I don't think there were many people who weren't affected by JFK's untimely death. My mom picked my brother and I up at school that day, and we both could tell that she was doing all she could to keep from coming to tears.

I do remember that shortly after we all found out that he had died that it started to rain, and continued to rain all weekend.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I felt like finding out what others felt that day.

Thanks again, stop by anytime, I'm usually here.

PS: More cartoons coming soon.
PPS: Thanks Tina, you've got a wonderful Father there.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Earl,
It is really strange how there are so many similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy. I had seen the comparison before, but you put in a couple that I didn't know about.

That was such a fateful day. I don't think there were many people that were not affected by JFK's demise.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

Tina said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Grandpa Eddie said...

He ate tunafish? He hates tunafish!

Tastes change when ya get older. I used to hate spinach, now I love. Couldn't live without sweet corn, now I don't care to eat it.

Darro, that's cool. Cool name for a cool guy.

Thanks for showin' Darro my site. I look foward to reading more posts from him.