Cheryl Patterson remembers her father was always protective of her when she was a little girl. But in Dallas that morning, he pushed her into the middle of the street in front of the pulsing crowd. She stood about three feet away from the Lincoln Continental convertible. The beautiful Mrs. Kennedy, wearing a pink suit and a pink pillbox hat, was inches away. She looked right at me and smiled. He waved and they said something to each other, Patterson said Thursday. The family got back into the car and traveled back to her grandparents house in the South Oak Cliff area. They didnt know President Kennedy had been shot until they got back to the house in Oak Cliff. Patterson, like most people in the country is remembering the assassination of the president on this 50 th anniversary of the event. Unlike others, she was there that day, a few blocks away. Her father and mother, Malcolm and Jane Dorman, took Cheryl and her younger brother out of Jones Elementary School to travel to Dallas specifically to see the president. She recalls her father picked up her brother Paul and put him on his shoulders so the youngster could see the Kennedys. They were all excited about seeing the President and First Lady. As they traveled back to South Oak Cliff, the family ‘talked and talked and talked about how gorgeous she was and how amazing it was to see the president,’ Patterson said. The enthusiasm died when they got to her grandparent’s house. When they drove into the driveway, a teenaged neighbor named Bud came up asking ‘Did you see it? Did you see the president shot?’ They didn’t believe it because Bud joked. He said it was true. The family went inside and turned on the television. ‘I remember Mother passing out, everybody else just kind of freezing,’ Patterson said. ‘It’s kind of like a freeze frame in my memory of how everybody was positioned around the TV and how quiet it got.’ Like today, November 22 in 1963 fell on a Friday. Patterson’s friends and the teachers at Jones School knew she was in Dallas to see the president. Her fifth grade teacher, Miekle Hoffman, later told Patterson about have to comfort some of her friends who cried after hearing the news about Kennedy. ‘They were scared I had been shot,’ Patterson said. The family could have ended up closer to the shooting. ‘I remember specifically the plan was to go stand under the bank clock and watch the parade,’ she said. That morning, though, her grandfather suggested going to Dealey Plaza. Her grandfather and father discussed the plaza. But they thought the plaza might be crowded and they weren’t sure of the parade route. A couple of streets had a ‘Y’ configuration and they couldn’t be sure where the motorcade would go. ‘My dad said “no, let’s stick with the plan,”’ she said. The Dorman family stayed in Dallas through the weekend. Patterson said the assassination news moved to the South Oak Cliff area, where Lee Harvey Oswald was living. She and her brother would spend two weeks each summer with her grandparents. They knew the area, which is like a small town within Dallas. They knew where the street was where Oswald had been living. They had been to the Texas Theater many times. That’s where Oswald was arrested. Patterson even made the newspaper in Dallas. The Dallas Morning News in its coverage of the motorcade had a picture of the Kennedys in their car with Patterson in the street. Her mother saved a copy. Her parents are now deceased and Patterson has boxes of items, but she has not been able to find the picture. She has also been looking online to see if she can find it. Patterson is married to Doug Patterson and they have three grown children—Orangefield Superintendent Dr. Stephen Patterson, retired professional baseball pitcher John Patterson, and Rebecca Patterson, who is the Victim Assistance Coordinator in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. The Pattersons also have several grandchildren. Her children and grandchildren have heard her story through the years. She recalls that her grandson turned 15 a couple of weeks ago. The family had a party for him and he brought his girlfriend. With the anniversary of the assassination, the event has been in the news. The girlfriend started talking about conspiracy theories. When she found out Patterson had been at the motorcade, the story was told again. And FYI, Patterson said she thinks Oswald acted alone. -Margaret Toal, KOGT- :|
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 17:41:08 +0000