50 YEARS SINCE CAMELOT

Like most people my age or older, I remember exactly where I was when President Kennedy was shot. It was my generation's version of 9/11 when everyone could tell you exactly what they were doing when they heard the news.

I was in 5th grade at Parkside Elementary School in San Bernardino, California.  The lunch recess had just ended. All the kids had already returned to the classroom, but I was standing outside the door to catch my teacher Miss Alanco who was late coming back to the room to tattle on another kid's lunchtime misdeeds. As she neared, she abruptly told me to get in the room, without giving me a chance to explain myself.  She then proceeded to make the announcement to the class that President Kennedy had be shot.

I got the message from the office that my mother had called and I could leave school early and come home if I was upset. I wasn't upset- just confused.  Surprisingly, I didn't take my mom up on her offer, because no one else was going home early, and I would be too embarrassed to get up and walk out alone.

I remember the next few days the entire family was glued to the TV.  There were a lot of tears and anguish in our home.  There was never a family prouder to be staunch Democrats than ours. My family was enamored with the Kennedys.  My oldest brother Mike was 20 and attending a local junior college and had worked on the Kennedy campaign locally. I can remember him coming home wearing the straw boater with the red, white & blue "Kennedy for President" hat band.

My mother, especially, was heart broken.  She thought JFK was best thing since sliced bread.  When she died at age 90, almost 40 years later I found the newspaper from the day he died in pristine condition.  My guess is that a lot of people saved that edition.

I think that even after surviving the horror of WWII our nation really experienced a loss of innocence that day.

His death really seemed to start an avalanche of disastrous events that, while at times has slowed down, has never really stopped.