Almost everyone who was alive on that fateful day in history remembers where she was and what she was doing when she heard. Before we received official confirmation we were on the playground after lunch at Samuel Morse waiting to return when someone said the President had been shot. I am afraid I am quite ashamed of my initial response. I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe I was tired of hearing about his kids, or I didn’t appreciate the tours the First Lady gave of the White House, which may have interrupted my regularly scheduled program. For some reason, despite my mother’s best efforts to turn me into a Democrat I was enamored with Barry Goldwater. Ron and I went to see him speak and had buttons that said, “If I were 21, I’d vote for Barry.” I remember Mike Stevens, who worked with my dad and was a poll worker like my mom telling her not to worry that I’d grow out of it. Somehow, though, it influenced my response, but I’m quite sure Senator Goldwater would have been equally ashamed and embarrassed by my gleeful response to the news. A short while later in art class when the principal announced over the loudspeaker that President Kennedy had been shot and killed most everyone in class responded in an appropriate manner. Mrs. Weber called me over and spoke to me. I’m not sure what she said, but if memory serves after our talk my emotions were more in check. Then, as I was starting to get back to work the principal interrupted with a second announcement. A bell would sound shortly and we would be sent home early. My first thought was, good we’ll have more time to rehearse. When the bell sounded I went to my locker, gathered my books for the weekend, and anxious to see Gary, Lolly and Cookie hurried down to the auditorium. Standing in front of the doors was Mrs. Haggerty. She was holding several tissues in her hands and made no effort to hide her tears. Despite her display of emotion she calmly told me rehearsal was cancelled, that as far as she knew the show would go on as scheduled, but at this time I needed to be with my family. Funny, I had thought we were a family. But, by the time I reached home and found my mother had come home early from work I realized this was not an ordinary day. As we sat around the living room and watched events unfold including stoic newscasters revealing emotions for the first time, the swearing in of a new president, and the live broadcast of Jack Ruby firing point blank into the alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, an age of innocence melted away. We had read about the previous assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. My parents spoke of the great feeling of loss when Franklin Roosevelt died in office. Now, we had lived this day in history, and our lives would never be the same. The following week Mrs. Haggerty asked everyone at Samuel Morse for a moment of silence to honor our fallen leader. She stood in front of the curtain and thanked everyone for their respect and told them it would be all right once the show began to laugh and have a good time. As I sat backstage with my fellow actors in full makeup and costume I knew I would never forget the lady who wasn’t afraid to show her tears on that solemn day. Mrs. Haggerty was a class act. Your comments, memories and thoughts are appreciated.
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