| | | I doubt anyone living today will forget the horror of that day, Glenn. I certainly won't. I was a young mom, watching over 3 babies under 3 years old, and to have the 4th child the following spring. With the wonder of hindsight, I remember thinking that day that we would always remember America as a before and then an after the killing of John F. Kennedy.
We were not able to vote in those years until we were 21 years of age. I was only 20 years old when Americans voted for JFK. I never really knew how my parents voted in those years, but I suspect as in order to work, my Dad had to belong to a Union so probably voted Democrat. Mom didn't go to work till after I (the oldest of 6 girls) was out of HS...But I know they both liked JFK. Even then, I knew I didn't like some of the things that JFK was promoting, and if I could have voted, probably would not have voted for him.
As an aside, here's a link talking about changing of the voting age....Very much akin to today's Left wanting to have the illegals vote.... democracyday.com
On Friday, Nov 22nd 1963, my day started as normal, taking care of 3 little ones, and doing necessary things to support taking care of the house. It was my turn to have the Ladies Bridge Group over that evening. My Hubby is in NYC on a business trip, and will return home on Saturday. It is a beautiful Fall day in Western New York this Nov 22nd.
I had just put the kids down for naps, grabbed some soup for lunch, and turned on "As The World Turns," my favorite soap. Walter Cronkite was on the screen. Rumors were that the President had just been shot in Dallas. And then, Cronkite announced to America and the world, that our President, John F. Kennedy was dead from a gunshot to the head. I was alone. No one to talk to, and to relieve our mutual anxiety and tears.
Our world turned that day. And our lives surely did. I too remember thinking that our lives would never be the same again. It was just impossible to believe that someone killed OUR President of the United States. I remember watching TV as much as possible that weekend. I remember calling the Bridge ladies and having them decide whether or not we should have our get together. To my surprise, ALL of them wanted to gather, not so much to play bridge, but just to be together in this time of horror. I put all the goodies out, and the cards, etc. But none of even thought of playing when there was something so very awful happening in the world around us. All of us were in our 20's and early 30's then. We talked a bit about politics and some of the things happening around us. No matter what the politics of JFK were, we all liked him and his wife, Jackie. We knew little of his "other life" but admired him because he was young, full of energy, smart, and seemed to have gathered a good team around him.
Hubby came home the next morning from NYC. He too was in as much shock as the rest of the country. He brought home a NYT newspaper from that morning. It showed a picture from TImes Square with only a Policeman on a horse...There was NO ONE else anyplace in the whole of Times Square. The country had been dealt a blow for sure.
The rest of the weekend and Monday was constant TV. We both went about our lives taking care of the kids, but the events of the times were as if we were part of those events. We saw the actual killing of Oswald by Jack Ruby, saw Oswald's wife Maria, wondered if there was a strong Russian influence in this, because of the Russian connections. I think that most all of America watched TV that weekend and the funeral with sorrow, tears, horror, and love for country that we would pull through this together.
Seeing pictures of Jackie in the pink suit (although our TV's were black and white then), gloves, sorrowfully watching Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in as President in the plane, little John Kennedy's salute to his father, Jackie's black veil, the Black Horse "Black Jack," with no rider, and the constant beat of drums at the funeral are some memories that will always remain for so many of us.
http://democracyday.com/the-26th-amendment.html
We had to be 21 years old to vote in those years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy
Scroll down to this section - Conspiracy theories- to see a flyer that was going around Dallas that day….I don’t know if they ever found the group that had paid for this…Some thought that maybe LBJ had it done….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy
More memories, including this one….
JFK- The East Room, Saturday, November 23, 1963
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