Where Were You the Day JFK Died?

I was reading Craig Smith's blog this afternoon and came across this piece on the 44th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's shooting -- Nov. 22, 1963.

Thursday is Thanksgiving, and it is also the 44th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

For baby boomers, like myself, and those who are older it always brings to mind the question, “where were you when you heard that Kennedy was shot?”

I was sitting in my third period art class at John Burroughs Junior High School in Los Angeles when the announcement came over the public address system. I was in the seventh grade at the time.

For many of us the “where-were-you-when-you-heard-the-news-question” is one you could always ask whenever a conversation lagged.

One of my favorite lines regarding this topic comes from comedian Billy Crystal who was talking about the difficulty of making conversation with a younger woman he was out on a first date with and attempted to ask her where she was when she heard the news that Kennedy was shot.

Her response; “What! Ted Kennedy was shot!”

I must confess that I don't remember where I was. It would seem that I'm a bit younger than Craig -- Craig is a local attorney, law professor, and commentator on a certain newspaper that shall not be named. I was a wee tot of 5 at the time. I do remember however vaguely the day of the funeral. For some reason I remember my mother watching it while ironing clothes. We lived in Mt. Shasta at the time. Ah, so long ago. And yet the ramifications seem to live on with us -- as does the assassinations of his brother and Martin Luther King, Jr. five years later.

Such events do mark generations. The 1960s were remarkable, but I passed them without much thought -- just enjoying myself in small town America (even if on the West Coast).