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I doubt that I had any clear understanding of death on November 22, 1963. No one that I personally knew had yet died; and those that I saw "die" were always characters on TV shows such as RAWHIDE or THE UNTOUCHABLES, and these were sure to forever return in another role (sometimes in the same series). Even though Pope John XXIII had died that summer, we were led to believe that he possessed extraordinary powers; I simply concluded that death couldn't have any serious affect on anyone famous or in positions of power. Even though kids my age during that autumn knew the name John F. Kennedy, they were as familiar with him as they would have been with the intricacies of Washington, D.C....but he was a powerful individual and, like Pope John, deserved our respect.

When Sister Margery, who was as emotional as Ming the Merciless, came into our classroom with tears in her eyes, we knew that something serious had happened. Nothing short of our very own Our Lady of Guadalupe being closed down (as in THE BELLS of SAINT MARY'S), a "FOR SALE" sign swinging in the wind, could have elicited such emotion in her. She talked with Miss Madden (our teacher for that year; a Big Sister rather than a Sister to us all) who also began to weep.

Miss Madden finally announced to the class that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas and was dead. Amidst the genuine and obligatory sobs and moans we soon discovered are expected on such occasions, we felt a sincere grief for someone we had known all along...and would know even more in coming days.

Our dismissal was delayed until it was clear that a state of war didn't exist (in the event the Russians were responsible for Kennedy's killing). When I arrived home, television programming was exclusively devoted to Kennedy's assassination; there would be much to see on television that weekend, unlike anything seen on it before. Mr. Reichart, of course, cancelled my piano lesson but would come (owing to Thanksgiving) the Friday after next. For some reason, he seemed a little more friendly and I a little more attentive to his piano instruction. I could skip TV for now and study piano...maybe I didn't have forever to practice as I had once thought.