That Day In Dallas

Those of you who are older than me, probably remember in great detail that day in Dallas. Dr Martin Luther King had given his “I Have A Dream” speech three months earlier.  Zip codes (“Zone Improvement Plan”) and touch-tone phones were pretty new.  Everyone was listening to The Beatles (or making fun of them).  We were still six months away from the first moon landing.  None of that really stands out for me in relation to November 22, 1963, but I remember the news from that day and from the days that followed.

My grandparents lived just two blocks from my elementary school, so it was there that I went when school closed early that day and they sent us home.  It was there where I spent much of the next few days too.  (My parents were working).  I remember watching the state funeral on television.  I remember all the talk about this John F Kennedy, that I didn't really know about - I was a kid.  They kept showing the events over and over though and so it is burned into my memory.  That day in Dallas is something I will never forget.

Over the years there have been other such events. Some of them have been good (like the first walk on the moon) and many have been bad (like so many other assassinations). It would be nice to think that only good things would come and that we would learn from the bad and that going forward, we wouldn't make the same mistakes. Sadly, that hasn't been the case.

Can we learn?  Can we find a way to love?  Can we stop the hate and the destruction?  What do YOU think?