JFK ASSASSINATION 50 YEARS AGO TODAY: WHERE I WAS ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963

NOVEMBER 22, 1963

No man knocks himself down; if his destiny knocks him down, his destiny must pick him up again.
Charles Dickens

If you were alive and old enough, you probably remember where and what you were doing on that fateful day in November of 1963.  I was only 14 yrs old at the time, living in Illinois.  I was attending Jefferson Junior High.  It was a cold and rainy Friday in our neck of the woods that day.  Many of us were looking forward to going to the movies that night.  It was a favorite past-time for kids our age.  We could go to the show, maybe get lucky and sit with that special girl and even get a kiss or two.  

Diana and I were sitting in the library talking about nothing in particular during our study period.  Diana was a cheerleader and one of the "popular" girls in our class.  I kinda liked her but she was too ansy and flighty to get real serious over.  Besides, she had other boyfriends.  Later on in high school when we graduated she was one of the girls who walked up to get her diploma with a bun in the oven, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the intercom suddenly came on about 12:35 PM and the Principal began speaking those words that millions of people were hearing and seeing across the nation at the same time,  "I regret to inform you that the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, has just been shot in Dallas, Texas."

We all went to the theater that night like so many other Friday nights, but of course, something was different.  We watched the latest James Bond movie.  In the middle of the picture the lights in the theater went out and people started screaming and crying.  Some because of the days historic events, some because of the lightning, rain, and wind outside, and some because that's what girls did when they were out of their comfort zone.

A few weeks later that year, I was in the public library reading the New York Times looking for an article about a new musical group that was turning Europe upside down.  It was a group called the Beatles.  No one else had heard about them yet, but I had.  I started the first Beatles fan club in the United States that day.  I was only 14 years old but I knew these guys were going to shake up the world.  Just like JFK had done a few weeks earlier.

Well, needless to say my world and that of all Americans young and old changed forever that fall.