50 Years Ago Today - What I
Remember
Fifty years ago today, I remember quite alot, even if I was only
3 1/2 years old.
My family lived in the tiny little town of Burkesville,
Kentucky. Dad worked at Burkesville Transfer and Mom was working at the
sewing factory - and I don't remember it's name.
We had a young girl, she was probably 18 or 19 at the time, who
kept me, Mike, who was about to turn 2 on Christmas Day, and Larry who was only
7 months old. Her name was Evinois - and my memories of her all are quite
fond. She was a loving soul who cared for us three little white kids like
we were her own. Our whole family loved her and she remained in our lives
years after we moved away. That's a whole other note!
Evinois watched "As the World Turns" faithfully
everyday. And while I didn't have a clue what was going on - I'd watch
too. During the program, there was an interruption that said President
Kennedy had been shot. Now, I didn't know who he was, but I was quite
concerned that Evinois was upset. When the second interruption came on to
say he had died, she burst into tears, big tears! I was scared and
bewildered but I remember her comforting me to calm my fears.
The house we lived in had three porches - one fully across the
back and front and one side. We had gone outside to the front porch, all
the neighbors on the street had done the same. It was only a short while
until my Mom came walking up the street - when the President died, her company
closed and sent everyone home. She had walked the mile or so, I imagine
as quickly as possible, to get home to us.
As she came across the yard from the street, I ran to meet her.
Evinois was holding Larry and Mike was toddling around on the porch.
Mom and Evinois looked at each other, my Mom said "What in the
world?" and they hugged. I remember us all going back inside and so
began the first marathon of t.v. watching during a tragedy.
As a kid, I had no real idea of what had happened. I knew
my parents and everyone around me was upset and there was a sense of shaky
ground to everything. As days wore on, I'm sure my little world went back
to normal.
But our whole world never quite returned to normal. This
week I've watched hours about the anniversary, etc. I have enjoyed Bob
Schieffer's recount of the story as a young print reporter of that day and all
the other stories that have been shared. It was truly a time of loss of
innocence for this country.
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