esrosedotblog

WHERE WERE YOU?

Today is the anniversary of JFK's assassination.

There have been a lot of memorable days since then but the event still holds a strong mental and emotional charge.

It still passes the "where you when......" test.

I had been out of our office building with a couple of guys for an illegal coffee break at the Horn and Hardarts on Arch Street in Philadelphia.

My friend John and I opted for the 15th St. entrance as our entry point. Coffee groups broke up so as not to cause a scene when returning to the office.

We passed a bar. One of those that is open 24 hours a day. The television was on. People were standing at the plate glass windows, crowding into the bar.

We stopped. Someone told us JFK had been shot.

The rest is a blur.

I remember seeing Jack Ruby getting shot too. That was Sunday. Then all the rest.

The JFK thing is still a hard jab.

Later we had Bobby. I was in a car on my way to an apple pressing operation in New York State. We were going to buy the guy's operation. It came on the radio. We didn't buy the company.

It is hard to explain how these assassinations impacted us all.

I remember the day that FDR died too. But that was different. Softer.

9-11? Sure. Different though.

I wasn't much of a Kennedy fan. JFK. I was all for Bobby though. It is all mixed up.

I think that I brought a lot of those feelings to the Obama campaign and still apply them as he starts his administration. Hope. Anticipation. A second try in my lifetime.

It is very important. All this.

Labels: Barack Obama, heroes, life