I remember it like it was yesterday. It was my first year in my “new” school.
It was November, and the holiday season was approaching.
But the atmosphere was not as festive as one might expect. Recent world events cast a pall on what should be the carefree life of a child.
Between the “duck and cover” drills and the “nuclear fallout” public service announcements on television, the threat of instant annihilation was ever present.
In addition the Civil Rights movement was in full swing, with terrifying images of racial cruelty being broadcast nightly into our living room.
But this was an ordinary day and things were relatively normal.
The came a shocking announcement on the public address system: "President John F. Kennedy has been shot in Dallas Texas and has been rushed to the hospital"
The room becname very quiet and our teacher decided to take recess. She sent me and another boy to the cafeteria to get milk for the students that wanted it.
I vividly remember the cafeteria manager saying to another worker. “I know he’s dead” and my heart sank.
As soon as we returned to the classroom with the milk the dreaded second announcement came over the P.A.
“President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is dead. Please pray for him and his family”
The world changed at that moment.
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