2020 – November 22, 1963
(Ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on November 22, 2020)
Things you never forget:
On November 22, 1963, I was a junior at Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, NJ, and was in a class taught by someone who was not well-respected by the students. He liked to make really bad jokes that he thought would endear him to his class, but they had quite the opposite effect.
Early that Friday afternoon, he was called to the classroom door by someone. He returned ashen-faced and announced that the President had been shot.
The class erupted in mock laughter, thinking that it was another of his dumb jokes. He looked at us in utter horror. A few minutes later, the principal’s announcement over the PA told us that the President was dead.
I belonged to the school’s intramural bowling league, which met after school on Fridays at Ten Pin On The Mall in the Bergen Mall in Paramus. We were sure it would be canceled after the announcement, but, for some reason, it wasn’t.
It was impossible to concentrate on bowling, so we spent most of our time in Ten Pin’s bar, which had a TV. Normally, we would not be allowed in there, but it was understood that everyone needed to be near a TV on that horrible day.
I was sitting in the fourth grade classroom in the row against the windows when the principal Sister Emily came on over the loudspeaker and said the president had just been shot. Everyone looked around and said Kennedy? Kennedy? Kennedy? You never do forget where you were when you hear monumental news