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Showing posts with the label John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy’s Assassination: Where Were You on November 22, 1963? My Story

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Artist: Aaron Shikler (1970) Posthumous Official Portrait of John F. Kennedy Wikipedia ________________ Anyone who was alive and at an age of awareness 50 years ago today remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing on that terrible day. These memories are etched deeply in our minds and our hearts, after all these years, still breaking. As I watch the grainy TV footage, I am reminded of what we lost that day – much more than our beloved President. But we couldn’t know that then. I was 13, an especially vulnerable age. Too old to be unaware, too young to process this tragedy on a sophisticated level. In many ways, my grief is still stuck at this level, the child grasping for an explanation – anything to make everything better. But there were no and are no adequate words to smooth over the crushing grief that blanketed me – and most of us – that day. I loved President Kennedy. In my mind, he represented the young father I never had and Jackie the mother wh

Happy 4th of July! Poem: "Fourth of July," by Julia A. Moore (1847-1920)

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The best road to progress is freedom's road. --John F. Kennedy Today is the 235th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, still a relatively young nation. On this day, we should give thanks for our freedoms; even as we travel abroad, we should keep our America close to our hearts, although she may sometimes disappoint and some of our fellow citizens may cause us scratch our heads. We don't have special plans for this holiday--we often spend holidays by ourselves. Here's a poem by Julia A. Moore: Fourth of July Fourth of July, how sweet it sounds, As every year it rolls around. It brings active joy to boy and man, This glorious day throughout our land. We hail this day with joy and pride, And speak of our forefathers who died; Who fought for liberty in days of yore, And drove the British from our shore. We, as descendants of that race, Should not now our land disgrace. Arise, freeman, arise once more, Be earnest as in the days of yore. Have a great day!

Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment