Like everybody else, Ive been thinking about the anniversary of JFKs assassination tomorrow. All of us either have the event itself indelibly marked in our memories, or a lifetime of hearing parents, or older siblings tell the story of where they were, and what they were doing when they heard that the most alive president our nation ever had, was dead, lifeless by an assassins bullet. I was not born for another three years, a month, a week and a day, but feel as though I lived through those terrible days through the vicarious grief of my family. Each year, on 11/22, some of us remember what happened in 63. Most do not, unless the anniversary is divisible by five, in which case there is a brief mention on the news, and old tales of sorrow are taken down from the shelves of memory, dusted off, and donned again for a few moments before being carefully packed away again with a sigh. On June 6, 1988, I knelt to offer a brief prayer in Arlington before the eternal flame on the 20th anniversary of Bobbys tragic death, just before beginning an internship working for his son. I remember a lot of attention being paid to that anniversary because of the time and the place. This anniversary, however, is different, but why should that be so? Why is 50 more momentous than 49 or 51, 25 or 30? I think its because tomorrow, as a nation, we finally say the goodbye we have so far, stubbornly refused to admit.This is the last significant anniversary that most people who remember that awful day will likely see. So we pay special attention this year. Tomorrow, every flag in the nation will once more stand at half-mast for my hero, for our fallen captain, I will kneel at mass behind the Presidents pew at his familys church in Hyannis, the stories will be taken out for one last ritual, and then returned to the shelf, not to be forgotten, but for good. Then, at last, his ghost will be at rest. We will no longer cling in quite the same way, he will no longer haunt us as he has, and he will finally belong to the ages. Goodbye, Jack, and may God bless you, and welcome you into His Presence where there are no more goodbyes, no more parting, and all is made whole once again.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 02:13:53 +0000
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