What Does November 22 mean to you?

John F. Kennedy

Well, I was just looking at the clock at the bottom of my computer screen just now and it happens to already be past midnight which officially makes it November 22nd.

What does November 22nd mean to you? Well, for me.... it's a day that is seared into my memory forever with lots of tears, yet special family moments as well.

I was in 8th grade in 1963. I can remember exiting school on November 22nd and my father being parked outside in the car waiting for me. My father was a strong, dedicated, and patriotic man. His life focused on service to our country. He was looked up to by many for his service and strength. On this particular day, when he came to pick me up, my father was crying and that is a sight I will never forget. He shared with me that our beloved President John F. Kennedy had been shot.

To set the scene and the atmosphere of the times, we lived in a country that was unified. (with the way things are now, who would ever think that there was a time such as that?) The entire country backed its president unequivocally and America stood proud as a strong and honored country. President Kennedy was one of our most beloved presidents. He was a young man with a beautiful wife and a young family. We adopted them into our own hearts. Being raised with a zeal and love for my country the fact that our president was shot was a devastating blow to me and my family and to all Americans.

The assassination attempt on President Kennedy's life was successful and he succumbed to its evil plot. My father without hesitation scooped us all into the car and off to Washington, DC we drove in our light blue Buick with the white top. We joined millions of Amercians as they were overcome with shock, grief and sorrow and we, as a family, experienced it firsthand in our nations's capital.

My memory of that week brings me back to standing in a line that seemed to stretch for days so we could file past the president's gravesite and see the eternal flame placed there by his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy. The frigid weather was so bitter that my feet, hands,and legs become like icicles. (This was a time when women did not wear long pants, so I wore stockings and a skirt while we waited for more than half the day).

The entire country grieved together because of this horrific event and it is something that I will never forget. The picture of Jackie Kennedy's bloodstained suit is a vivid image in my brain. The image of little John-John (who grew to be the young John F. Kennedy, Jr.) saluting his father's casket as it rolled by on the caison, brings me to tears everytime the memory enters my thoughts.

So, today, November 22nd always "downloads files" from the archive of my brain and puts my heart back to a time filled with great emotion--a country unified, a grief uncontainable, and the memory of a period we will never see again in this country.

When my friend Denise sent me an invitation to have "lunch with the girls" (which I will be attending today .. well actually a little after I wake up in the morning), the date jolted me -- November 22nd. You would think that after all these years--45 years to be exact--that it would be just another day, but it will always in my mind be the day that our beloved president John F. Kennedy was senselessly assassinated and life in the United States was changed forever. The time of "Camelot" was brought to an end.