What more can I add to the conversation? Probably nothing, really. BUT it is the defining moment in my life and everyone's life of a certain age. I think that I am the cutoff. I was four years old. I was watching Pete and Gladys with my Mom, sitting on the coach in our den. It was a series in syndication, but to me it was first run. A short lived series starring the great Harry Morgan. I couldn't tell you what station we were watching. I couldn't tell you who broke in with the news, but the day President Kennedy was assassinated is a defining moment in all of our lives. Things changed immediately. Innocence was lost. Now, clearly in all these decades we have romanticized what could have been. The conspiracy theorists are still around. No matter, the tragedy looms large for 50 years.
50 Years? It doesn't feel that long ago. The memories so real and vivid. Of course, this week there have been so many conversations, news clips, analysis that it does come sweeping back into the frontal lobe. I have been teary all week. It gets me every time seeing John John salute the coffin. Every time. The eyewitness stories of Jackie Kennedy's heroics and grace has been repeated all week. How at such a young age she was able to think forward, think legacy, think future is astonishing. I know all the tales of JFK's infidelities, but like many women before her and women after, there still seemed to be an undeniable love. She protected him fiercely in life and in death. The stories are all over the channels this week.
How different would our lives have been if the President had lived? It's anyone's guess. There's no way of even knowing. Stephen King took a stab at it. He wrote a fantastic yarn called, 11/22/63. It is a great read and though it's fiction does give some pause for thought. President Kennedy and the Camelot years have been so idealized that maybe he would have been no better than all the many other Presidents that have led this country, but due to the one second in Dallas on November 22, 1963 we will never know. The great tragedy of my generation. The defining moment, only to be followed by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. The heartbreak began for generations of Americans that day and broke our rose colored glasses. Take a moment to remember and share where you were or what you were doing when you heard the news of the President's been shot.
Sidebars: Hard to be lighthearted today but a few things to note. Survivor proves week in and week out the more you speak, the faster you're gone. Every time. It's ridiculous and probably a good life lesson. Covert Affairs finished its season last night and finally came to a conclusion, thankfully. Maybe next season can go back to its origins. Grey's Anatomy is going to take on OCD, but don't understand how it develops in a person over 40. Hope they address that. Re-watched The Hunger Games yesterday and going to see Catching Fire today. All ready for that. Today is the home opener for our Varsity Basketball season. Go Dragons! Please share your memory of November 22, 1963.
Please re-post, re-tweet, or forward to a friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment