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Vocabulary lesson
Nov. 22nd, 2013 07:17 pmFifty years ago today, I learned a new word.
My fourth grade teacher received a summons to the office. She was crying when she came back and sat down at her desk. Soon the principal came over the public address system with the announcement that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. Shot. We were going to have a moment of silent prayer.
I didn't pray. I was too confused. I didn't know what I supposed to be praying for. I didn't know what 'assassinated' meant. I knew the president had been shot, but I didn't know if he was dead or alive. Were we supposed to be praying for him to survive? Recover?
I don't remember anything after that. I think I may have asked the teacher, as she dismissed the class, if he was dead. Maybe I asked one of the other kids. I don't know, but I feel like I would have asked someone. I don't know if either of my parents was home when I got there, or how they reacted. I don't know if I watched the funeral or any of the other television coverage. I would think my parents and my older brother must have been watching. The TV was probably on nonstop. But it's all a blank after that one brief burst of shock and confusion, when a grownup used a big word, and I couldn't comprehend what they were trying to tell me.
My fourth grade teacher received a summons to the office. She was crying when she came back and sat down at her desk. Soon the principal came over the public address system with the announcement that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. Shot. We were going to have a moment of silent prayer.
I didn't pray. I was too confused. I didn't know what I supposed to be praying for. I didn't know what 'assassinated' meant. I knew the president had been shot, but I didn't know if he was dead or alive. Were we supposed to be praying for him to survive? Recover?
I don't remember anything after that. I think I may have asked the teacher, as she dismissed the class, if he was dead. Maybe I asked one of the other kids. I don't know, but I feel like I would have asked someone. I don't know if either of my parents was home when I got there, or how they reacted. I don't know if I watched the funeral or any of the other television coverage. I would think my parents and my older brother must have been watching. The TV was probably on nonstop. But it's all a blank after that one brief burst of shock and confusion, when a grownup used a big word, and I couldn't comprehend what they were trying to tell me.
