Sandy Supposes....

JFK

Prompt:Wildcard Round! What's the first big news story you remember being aware of as a kid? ( For reference mine I think was John Lennon 's murder , and I was five years old.)

          Well this is going to classify us by age, that's for sure. I clearly remember my mother standing in front of the television set weeping and sobbing as if a dear family member had just died. She was inconsolable, and the tears streamed down her face. My first reaction was to run to her and hug her shaking legs. I had no idea what had made her so upset. All I felt was dread and helplessness. My Mom never ever cried like this.

         It was November 1963, and JFK had just been assassinated. I was only four years old. A murder let alone one of somebody serving as the President of the United States, was beyond my understanding. I still am struck by the intensity of my parent ' s grieving. We were a working class family living in Southern Ontario, Canada, and this was not a part of our political landscape.

         Five years later in 1968, my mother again grieved openly for the assassination of JFK'S brother, Bobby Kennedy .