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In reply to the discussion: Generation JKF About to Re-Live the 60's in Their 60's: Are You Experienced? [View all]DFW
(54,378 posts)I was in our usual school Friday afternoon assembly in Washington, DC. Someone came in and quietly got Joe III and Bobby Jr. and left with them. We didn't know why, but after all, their uncle was president and their dad was Attorney General, so who knew?
On Fridays, I used to take a bus down to my dad's office in the National Press Building, and ride home to Virginia with him. There were always guys selling the afternoon papers on the sidewalk at 14th and F, and sometimes the headlines were a little off the wall. This time they screamed "JFK SLAIN!" but I was a little unnerved that no one was saying anything. By the time I got up to my dad's office, he had a telephone in each hand, and something was clearly wrong. I got a sinking feeling. When he had five free seconds, he confirmed it to me. I knew the world had changed, and not for the better.
As a teen, I did indeed feel the urge to fit in, but no urge at all to look cool or conform. My circle of friends was correspondingly small. Maybe that's why when I started moving around a LOT at age 16, it came easy because I left so little behind. The urge to look cool and conform never passed for me because it never started. I had the good fortune to meet my ultimate kindred spirit at age 22, and while our urge to actually procreate definitely waned after two successful attempts, the urge to keep in practice has not. I am reminded of that old Billy Joel song:
They will tell you you can't sleep alone in a strange place
Then they'll tell you you can't sleep with somebody else
Ah, but sooner or later you sleep in your own space
Either way it's okay, you wake up with yourself