“He was our hope.”

On this 50th anniversary of a day that changed America forever, everyone living that horrible day still remembers exactly where they were when they first heard the news.  It pains me to hear my parents re-live the day that President Kennedy was killed.  My mom recalls being a senior at Sigourney High School, sitting in English/Literature class, when his shooting was announced over the PA system.  Immediately shocked, she was sure he'd be ok.  She says nearly everyone was convinced it was a conspiracy saying, "We wondered who was going to be next.  Are they going to come and get us?  There were many tears.  He was our hope."

My dad was working at the Griffin Pipe Company in What Cheer at the time.  He remembers every detail of the moment he first got the news, including being on an elevator with a co-worker when another worker began hollering "The President's been shot," over and over.  The plant would close for the day.

I was born a little less than six years later, and only days before Kennedy's dream of the U.S. landing on the moon would come true.  Today his eternal flame continues to burn at Arlington National Cemetery and the impact he had on our country, still shines brightly.