52 Weeks Minus 48

"Like a kid in a candy store!" That's me!

As someone new to blogging and someone who loves genealogy I've found many new delights in the genealogy blogs.  I want to sample them all!  How to choose???  Ok, I'll pace myself and try not to over-indulge.  Or maybe I'll blog often for now and pace myself later....

My primary purpose for starting a blog was to chronicle the research I've done and new information I'm finding.  I've downloaded The Big Genealogy Blog Book by Amy Coffin to my Kindle, but I actually found the first reference to her 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History on Geneabloggers.  This has me thinking about my own genealogy research.  Although I enjoy the research to locate documents and facts, I would love to find more stories about my ancestors.  And with that in mind...

Historical Events Week 49 - Describe a memorable national historical event from your childhood. How old were you and how did you process this event? How did it affect your family?

The first that popped into my mind was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy at 12:30 p.m. CST on Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.  He was fatally shot while he was in a motorcade with his wife, Jackie, Texas governor, John Connally, and the governor's wife, Nellie.

At that time I was a seventh-grader at Lincoln Junior High in Abilene, Texas.  Our girls' PE class had accomplished some goal and as a reward, allowed to walk a few blocks off campus to Sears.  Since I had lunch period following PE, that allowed extra time to be away.  On our way back to school, a classmate came running up from behind and told us she saw on TV the President had been shot, but we didn't believe her.  While we were waiting outside for the bell to ring to go in for class, we were making jokes about it.  I remember someone saying our school, Lincoln, would probably be renamed Kennedy.

My next class was Texas History with Coach Briles.  I remember our principal, Mr. Kennamer, coming on the PA and making the announcement.  I remember how quiet the room - the school - was.  I remember feeling awful that we'd been joking about it.

I don't remember much more about that day, or how it affected my family, but I remember the news coverage.  I remember the pink mohair suit Jackie was wearing and the blood stains on it.  I remember the drawn looks on the faces of Lyndon Johnson and others as he was being sworn in as President.  What I also remember was my anguish as I thought, "Why did it have to happen in Texas?" and later when I heard comments that JFK hadn't wanted to come to the state I so love.  Evidently whether Kennedy said he didn't want to come to Texas ir not is one of the many things debated since his assassination.  As a twelve year old, I didn't think of there being political or other reasons for the President not wanting to come to Texas; I interpreted it as his not liking Texans and thinking we were hicks.