Camelot redux

Seems like everyone is sharing their "where-were-you-that-day?" stories today, so here's mine.

My third grade teacher, Mrs. Schilling, was a little bit off..a little bit cranky. 

 She quieted us down and told us why:

"Class.." 

"Boys and girls"....

She began slowly, and I remember for some odd reason  that she paused and licked her upper lip, before continuing:  "Our President..(Here she took another long pause) ...of the United States, is quite ill."

She used the word "ill"

I don't remember any reaction from any classmate except from the kid who sat in front of me.  His name was Roy Taylor, and his mom's name was Elizabeth, and yes, I thought she was the famous Cleopatra Liz, but neither of us were one-hundred percent positive which president our teacher was referring to, until we both said, at almost the same time, "she must mean Kennedy."

We went home from school, where the bus driver was crying and the neighbors were crying, and before too long, Mindy from across the street would yell out, for all the neighbors to hear, "they just shot Oswald!"

We gathered at my maternal grandmother's house for Thanksgiving a few days later, as we usually did, watching her big screen TV before indulging in the turkey, and my Aunt remarked that Jackie looked radiant coming off the plane..and that she was smiling.(???)

My grandfather had a curious reaction,  somehow thinking that Lee Harvey Oswald was a southern vigilante who was responsible for the assassination as he proclaimed, "I'm not giving those tobacco growing bastards one red cent.  I'm not smoking ever again" 

We learned the facts as the days progressed,  and just hoped we'd recover.

Jim honored this anniversary by sharing the letter he got from Letitia Baldridge, Jackie Kennedy's social secretary, as a response to the fan letter he sent to his favorite president as a little boy..a man who inspired him to run for president of his own elementary school years later.

We remembered our trip to the Kennedy museum in Hyannisport years ago, where a family member was paying a visit  that day.

And while we were sharing our memories at dinner tonight, we did the only thing we both saw fit to do:

Alexa was happy to oblige our request, to hear Richard Burton, as King Arthur, singing the title song from "Camelot"