My kid brother and I were breathless with excitement - it was the morning of a day to be full of 'firsts': first trip on a bus, first trip downtown, first parade, first trip to mom's office and our first look at a President! Holy Cow! Could it get any better?!?
Mom and our nanny, Maureen, skillfully maneuvered us down to the corner of Houston and Main. So many people! Through the forest of adult legs around me all I could see was the curb but it looked like the perfect place to sit. My little legs were tired from all the walking but no such luck. Kevin and I had our hands held tighter than the gold at Fort Knox. No matter how we tugged and pulled...
The crowd suddenly surged against us. Unseen below the mass, Kev and I were knocked down momentarily before magically being lifted skyward. We'd been lifted onto the shoulders of two men just as the sounds of the motorcycles and cars neared. The street lay now lay below us and I thought the whole city must be there. So many people yelling and cheering. And then I saw the lady in pink; she looked like a princess.
When the firecrackers went off, I looked over at my brother as we smiled and clapped.
'Blackcats', I thought, the 'pop, pop... pop, pop, pop' still ringing in my head.
In the next instant, we were literally dragged down the street, my knees scrapping the sidewalk. My last clear memories were seeing the blood on my legs and a footprint across the back of Kevin's pant leg.
Looking back across these fifty years I'm surprised at what sticks with me the most about that day. It isn't the horror of what happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963. No, I think about a time when two complete strangers -men- could show two small children a kindness simply by lifting them up to witness history.
Yes, the world has certainly changed in the last fifty years.
Today, I was lambasted for posting against a K-mart commercial in which men shake their underwear-clad genitals in time to a Christmas carol:
"Wow - to think in 2013 we still have puritans around. Look in the mirror - you'll see the ding dong....."
No, when I look in the mirror I see a face lined with memories; memories of innocence, riding a bicycle unafraid in the carefree dusk of a perfect summer day or walking home alone from school with nothing more troubling than a spelling test on my mind. Watching television and laughing with my family in the evening.
I see a face lined with the concerns of a parent in today's world knowing I cannot allow those wonderful freedoms for my eight year old. Stranger danger. Amber Alert. Mature audiences only. Not suitable.
I feel a very deep sorrow for someone who would call me a Puritan based solely on my aversion to having a bunch of guys ringing their 'bells' in my face. He's obviously never known any different way of life. How sad.
A fear-based environment is not healthy for children and other living things.
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