Universal Sadness

John F. Kennedy

Certain events in life landmark a day, where you knew exactly where and what you were doing at that time. This day in sixth grade in November 22, 1963, we were out playing in the school yard. Even though we were so young, the intensity of the emotion was felt among us.

It was the day John F. Kennedy was shot. It was like time stood still — almost like you were in a twilight zone. We were too young to fully comprehend how serious it was — yet there was an incredible amount of sadness that was felt among young and old. You didn’t have to understand it — you were part of it.

When we came home, it was on our black and white TV with the rabbit ear antennas sitting on top of it. For that split second, I did not feel the security of my childhood anymore.

It’s as if the shock of it all had cracked whatever safety we had felt in our world. It was worse than when we would have to hide under our desks in school when they would have drills with the loud sirens preparing us for a nuclear bomb, I couldn’t comprehend a nuclear bomb, but this was a universal sadness that connected us all somehow.

I felt one with everyone.

Excerpt from my memoir, “Alexandrine and Me.”