November 22, 2003

One day when I was eight --

I was at home from school with the flu. My mom was there and she had let me lay on the couch in the living room watching TV while she cleaned the house. It was not a good day to have the flu, it turned out, because there was just news on both stations. I turned off the TV and went back to bed. After about 3, I knew there would be cartoons and Three Stooges so I asked my mom if I could go back in the living room and watch TV now. She said I could, but they did were still playing news. It was turning out to be less than an enjoyable day. It was bad enough to have the flu, but having the flu and being bored and not able to watch cartoons and the Three Stooges was worse. I went back to bed. The date was November 22, 1963. I was sick with the flu for the next three days and for some reason every time I turned on the TV, it was news. My dad said they had killed the President, but I couldn't understand why that meant they had to show news when the Three Stooges were supposed to be on. I didn't really pay much attention to politics when I was eight. I mostly read comic books and watched cartoons and the Three Stooges.

Posted by notGeorge at November 22, 2003 01:47 PM
Comments

I was nine, 4th grade. Our old battleaxe teacher started CRYING. I knew something big was up.

Thansk for the heads up. Trotsykite sabotage repaired.

Posted by: The Commissar at November 22, 2003 01:57 PM

I wasn't even alive at the time--I was born ten years later. I'll have to find out what my Mom and Dad were doing at the time. I do remember passing the memorial a few times when I was younger, and solemnly saying a prayer.

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at November 22, 2003 07:33 PM

I was 12 years old and in the 6th grade in Birmingham, Alabama. The teacher went out of the room for a little while then came back in and said that President Kennedy had been shot. A lot of kids cheered. JFK was hated by many white southerners. Johnson turned out worse than Kennedy. Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.

Posted by: Harp at November 22, 2003 08:39 PM

I have no memory of that time as I was one month old, but I still see the way people react when it is mentioned. President Kennedy was the light that America needed and when he was assinated, I believe that the light was somehow dimmed. Things could have been different. Kennedy represented freshness and hope to a lot of people. I am not American, but I feel a responsive chord whenever Kennedy's legacy or death is brought up. Gurl.

Posted by: anonymous gurl at November 22, 2003 10:39 PM