Forty-Seven Years and One Day Later.
Forty seven years ago today, people around the world woke up to the sad realization that yesterday's events were not, in fact, just a bad dream. The recollection of the details of one's whereabouts when President John F. Kennedy was shot is as vivid as those of 9/11 by generations not yet born (in 1963). For me, on September 11th, the only creative writing professor I ever had, a sixty-something, eccentric artist whose life experiences both preceded and included the unique events of the 1960's, tearfully confessed to pitying my classmates, at 8:30 that morning, for the unavoidably fearful lives we and our children were bound to lead. Her words felt cruel and unfair, though perhaps quite accurately informed by other great American losses that leave indelible scars on the hearts of the world's hopeful participants, like the one that happened forty-seven years and one day ago. (Enjoy.)
Thanks for remembering. It was a painful day for my generation. We are still haunted by it. Ask anyone my age and they will tell you exactly where they were, and exactly what they were doing, when they heard the news.
ReplyDeletewhere were you?
ReplyDeleteI was entering the auditorium in junior high school. For some reason gym had been cancelled... I recall my teacher, Miss Petrides, walking by, tears streaming down her face...
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