Kennedy assassinated 42 years ago today.

TheDay.com, New London, CT:

“Today, Nov. 22, it is 42 years since I climbed into a White House press bus in Dallas to follow his motorcade to his death. He was a youthful, handsome 46, and if he had lived he would now, incredibly, be 88 years old!”

Simply amazing! When President Kennedy was assassinated, I was a little girl of 4. I was taking a nap on a scratchy green couch in the music room. I was sound asleep. Suddenly my grandmother came in and picked me up and held me to her chest while she sobbed. I was devastated to see my beloved grandmother in so much pain and I had never seen her cry so hard before, so naturally I started to cry too. When she told me that President Kennedy had been shot I was afraid that Caroline and John had been hurt too and I cried even harder.

I remember my grandpa coming home from work that afternoon with his huge lunch box. He came in and set it on the table and then grabbed my grandmother and they both started weeping.

It’s a weird thing to be a little kid and seeing every adult in your world looking sad and crying like that. 9/11 is the only other day that gave me a flashback feeling to how I felt as a child on November 22, 1963.

I remember being glued to the television set to watch the funeral and I remained a fan of Jacqueline Kennedy to this day.

My grandpa was watching television and eating his lunch (or was it breakfast) when Oswald was shot on television and he stood up excitedly and started shouting, “They shot him!, they shot him!” Now that really was reality t.v.

A friend of ours was being potty trained on 11/22/63. He knows because his mother in exasperation told him to sit on that potty seat and not to get up until she came to get him. Then the news came of the president’s assasination. My friend was on the seat for 2 hours before she came to get him.

It blows me away now that so many (dare I say most) of the people reading this blog today will have no recollection of President Kennedy’s assasination. That’s to be expected I suppose. We live near the McKinley monument and I remember reading historical letters extoling the people to not forget poor William McKinley because it had been 40 years or so and people were starting to forget. I think the only assassinated president this won’t happen to is perhaps Lincoln. I think President Kennedy, while a dark time for the nature, will probably fade into the history books. But I will never forget that day.

If any of you have memories of November 22, 1963, or have stories that your parents may have told you, or anything else you wish to share, please do so in the comment boxes.

Eternal rest grand to him oh Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him.