“President Kennedy our 35th President

Of United State Has Been Shot”

(Awareness)

The news was on all the television and the radio, all they talked about was that President Kennedy had been shot. Emmy’s mom was divested. Emmy was also distraught she could not see her cartoons for a whole week. She did not really understand the urgency of the matter. All Emmy could think was,

“I guess this was more important than my cartoons, must be everyone has red eyes from crying.”

She could still hear her third-grade teacher Ms. Green said, “President Kennedy our 35 presidents of the nations has been shot.” “Let’s all keep silent for a minute in memory of our President, please.” It was evident that the teacher was crying her eyes were red and swollen; the kids in the classroom were crying as well as if a ripple effect we all felt the deep sorrow and sadness that overtook our precious teacher. All the students loved Ms. Green and she loved us.

Emmy loved her because she felt comfortable in her classroom a sense of belonging. She was learning a lot from her teacher. Emmy was gaining confidence. Ms. Green soon realized that Emmy was a student she could trust leaving the classroom for Emmy to monitor.

The kids in the class would call Emmy the teacher’s pet. So when Emmy saw Ms. Green crying naturally, she along with the classroom students began to cry, and with the same, Mr. Webber the principle comes out on the intercom,

“ Please let’s all raise and have a minute of silence.” He then let us out of school early.

Here was Emmy still confused about what had just happened walking back home she was free for the rest of the day. John F. Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963, that all Emmy’s head would repeat on her way home.

Emmy got home from school and to her surprise, all the channels on the television were about President Kennedy’s death. They kept showing the president in a convertible with Jackie his wife. The entire day was a sad day for everyone. Emmy’s parents looked truly shocked. They were from Puerto Rico and knew that when people did not sympathize with the political party things could get dangerous. That evening was a hard one for everyone. For the next three days after the funeral, the children wore their coats and hats holding their mommy’s hand; the first ladies as my teacher would be referred to her; Jackie Bouvier Kennedy.

The television had reruns of the black car that paraded President Kennedy’s body in a casket for the Nation to see. The casket held the dead body of their most beloved president, she would hear her mother and father say out loud holding their head and mouth in disbelieve.

“Everyone is watching, everyone is crying in the country,” Emmy’s mom and dad would say while watching television. This went on for a whole week, just talks about President Kennedy and how could it happen to such a good President? Everyone felt his death. The news reporter men were now talking about the man that killed the thirty-fifth president of United States John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. His name was Lee Harvey Oswald. The president was with his wife Jaclyn when he received a gunshot when visiting Dealey Plaza in Dallas Texas.

“Why would this man want to kill President Kennedy? Mommy,” Emmy asked her mom?”

“Because a man likes to take the law into their hands, answered the mom.”

“But mommy President Kennedy is a good man he likes to help Blacks, Jewish, Irish, and Latinos. He stands for equality and justice for all.”

“We need him to be alive, he was good to our people!” and with the same she begins to cry just like Ms. Green, she cleans her tears and with the same her mom’s replies,

“Emmy It’s too complicated to explain it to you.” “It’s also called politics, a big people’s game to keep our country in check. “These are men and women that work to serve our nation our country, representing the people and their needs. These men get elected by the people to be in charge of the country; the U.S.A., you’ll understand a lot better when you grow up, hopefully, your teacher will explain it when teaching you US history sometime in the future.”

“ Emmy you are still in elementary school. You’ll have lots of time to learn about how our nation’s politics works. Good because Emmy was beginning to think that the whole explanation was complicated and truly sad and long. “President Kennedy was our youngest President,” my mom continued. “Everyone loves Jackie Kennedy, and their children; Carolyn and John.”

Emmy just kept watching the reruns on the television for the next week and the weekend was still saturated with news about President Kennedy. Who he was, how grew up, what he believed in, how he influenced our lives, and now his death is a shock to the nation. They even showed pictures of his closest friends, one of them was the famous actress Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday Mr. President. She asks, “Mom why are they showing Marilyn Monroe pictures with the President?” “Nothing, dear the media making things up about the president.”

I did not know what she meant; she just kept shaking her head in a no motion and repeating this is truly sad. “Emmy doesn’t worry right now just go play restaurant and dolls with your twin sisters Amy, you’ll understand when you grow up let me continue watching the news channel, dear.”

Every channel had the same news but with different coverage about the same topic. The president’s funeral parade of cars and people continued for the next five to seven days. I could not wait until the cartons would come back on television again. Emmy was only eight years old. Her parents, her teenage sisters, and the neighbors all seem to be talking about the same thing.

Emmy would hear the television talking about; the Russians, something about sending a missile to Cuba, and how people were afraid in the U.S.A., afraid of nuclear war. Something about President Kennedy letting some exile Cuban’s invade their homeland Cuba and failing at their mission.”

“ Something about the CIA being involved, so may details that Emmy made it a point to continue asking her mom what all this was about and what it meant. Others worried about who will be our next President? Will it be Vice President Lyndon B Johnson? The school was out for a whole week, during the funeral of the most important man in the nation. No one seemed happy; everybody was morning this man. All Emmy wanted were her cartons to start. She felt confused and anxious too many people crying and sadly made she feel powerless. But the news kept repeating, on November 22, 1963, only a thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy has been killed by an assassin’s bullets as he drove through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected president to die. Of Irish Descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. He graduates from Harvard in 1940. He entered the Navy. In 1943 he saved some of the men who were on a PT boat that had an accident because it had been sunken by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors to safety. His injuries did not keep him from the dangerous task; he made sure all the men were brought all back alive.”

All that sounds good to Emmy but she still wanted to just watch cartoons.

“Mami, I am very sorry for Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy and her children, they must miss their dad, I know I would.”

“I know I would miss my dad more than my cartoons now that I think of it.” Emmy's mom just listens to the news on the television and Emmy just continued sitting with her mom.