I was in third grade and at recess at Webster School in Magna, Utah. When we returned to class, Mrs. Thacker reported that everyone would be going home early because President Kennedy had been shot and killed and Mrs. Kennedy wanted all students sent home from school, all students across the country. I was very sad; I liked the Kennedys. Not too many months earlier, President Kennedy was in Salt Lake City and visited with Mormon church leaders. His motorcade was scheduled to head to the airport after the meeting going west on North Temple. Mom and Dad loaded the five girls in the car and we headed to SLC to find a parking spot on the side of the road to watch the motorcade. I remember the event pretty vividly -- black fancy convertible with the President inside, waving.November 22 is my cousin Scott's birthday and back in 1963, a birthday was a time for family to gather and this birthday on a very somber day was no different. However, the excitement of a birthday party was stifled a little as the grownups in the room talked about the events of the day and watched the recaps on a black and white TV. Some important family members were missing that evening, Grandma and Grandpa Eccles. They were in Pittsburg, PA visiting Uncle Blaine and his family. I remember feeling very nervous that they weren't there. I was worried that they would get shot and killed.
The days that followed were heavy -- no school until after the funeral. Hours were spent watching TV and listening to the radio. As much as was possible 50 years ago was broadcast so all of the US could be involved. I will never forget the funeral procession, Mrs. Kennedy and the kids and others walked to Arlington Cemetery accompanying the horse-drawn carriage with the casket.
Fast forward and as an adult I have visited Dallas, Dealey Plaza and the Schoolbook Depository building; I have walked the path taken by the funeral cortege to Arlington and viewed the eternal flame at the Kennedy graves site. I have visited the Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Then and now when November 22 rolls around I remember very vividly the day President Kennedy was assassinated. It was a very sad and solemn then and feels that way 50 years later.
