I remember... first John Kennedy. I think everyone my age can remember where they were that day (I was in elementary school). It was the only time I remember seeing my father cry. Then it was Martin. Not too long afterwords... Bobby Kennedy.
The world was falling apart.
(Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States.)
9 comments:
I can also remember I saw my father and mother cry. I was eight years old. We went to church with my mother, to a special service, held for John F. Kennedy and while we walked to church we could see in every house where a tv set was in, it was on, reporting from the USA.
And my mother kept crying...
The world was falling apart, indeed.
Sending blessings,
Jeanneke, The Netherlands.
Thanks for posting such a beautiful rendition of that sad, touching song.
Quite amazing truly the historical events that one lives to see. I remember how deathly cold it was that November when John Kennedy was assassinated. I was home sick upon the sofa while my mother and her friend made Christmas wreaths in the basement. The smell of the fir and the cold are forever mingled in that memory. My parents did not weep, though I distinctly remember Walter Cronkite being overcome.
I do not remember where I was when Martin Luther King was assassinated. It's all very vague. It is his "I Have a Dream" speech that is my favorite of all speeches ever given, and there have been incredible speeches through the years. Some day...some fine day...we will live up to those magnificent words.
I was in the car with my mother (just me -- a rarity with little sisters) -- and we stopped at a gas station and the attendant told her that John F. Kennedy had been shot. She cried. I was not quite six, and I froze with shock. I had never seen that before.
Come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever saw it again...even when my father was ill and dying.
Wow.
Susan (DE)
Hubby and I were remembering where we were when JFK was killed (I was in 6th grade) and how we will never forget that day (or days until he was buried). And the fear we had when the other men were also assassinated. Not a good time in our history.
Elizabeth in NC
Thank you Brenda for that beautiful tribute. I too was in elementary school (4th grade) and it was frightening to see ones parents cry so openly.Then it seemed as though the world was falling apart as every few years some one else was gunned dowm, and we still struggle with it.
watching old footage of all the assassinations reminds me that this is a fallen world. against despair and hatred, i am mandated by my Creator to pray. those special men brought hope to many. my hope is in the Lord, who will overcome evil in the end!
I was in high school and all our friends were just beginning to become more aware of politics and such and President Kennedy being so young gave an extra layer to the whole thing. We thought we could and would change the world for the better. I was not involved in the 60s marches and such but we thought through legislation we could change things. Will there ever come a time when we think back on those sad days of our lives and not be ready to cry? for me, I doubt it. Sarah
I was a Freshman in college, walking between classes, when someone ran up to me and said that President Kennedy had been shot. I thought they were making it up for a while...In our dorm everyone crowded around the one small tv in the living room of the dorm administrator watching the tv. Everyone was in deep shock. As we were when Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were killed. And even the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby was a shock. It was a difficult time to live through, even when one was young. I had a lovely letter from a pen pal in Switzerland offering sympathy and prayers from her and her family.
The song is lovely, Brenda. I cannot help wishing and praying that everyone would concentrate on the good they could do and not the harm they could do to those with different ideas than their own. There is so much good that needs to be done.
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