I didn’t want to let the date go by without the annual, “where were you?” thread, addressed to those who were alive on that date (even if not especially sentient).
I was a sophomore in geometry class at Madonna HS in Niagara Falls, NY. It was a shocking event that stopped the world in its tracks.
I was in Houston at the time and I shit my pants. Because I was two years old and that was what I was into at the time.
Fourth grader, totally crushed because the President was elected because he was the best man in the country, and I couldn’t understand why someone would kill the best man in the country. I remember vividly sitting in class, hearing the principal announce what happened over the intercom.
I was in first grade and I remember they canceled school for the rest of the day. I didn’t know what a president was, or who was this “Kenny” who got killed. I also remember the news being on every channel all day long ago weekend. I did learn who President Kennedy was over the next few days because all of the adults were talking about him, and Jackie and their two kids.
First Grade. It was announced on the loudspeaker. The teacher and I started crying. Most of the rest of the kids just looked confused.
Fifth grade, just about to break for lunch. Another nun came into the room and whispered something to our teacher, who turned on a radio and we heard the news. Soon after, the entire school trudged off to the church next door for a prayer service, and then dismissed for the day (and also for Monday so we could watch the funeral).
Third grade/ My teacher (Mr. Drake) got called out of the room. When he came back, we all went outside with the rest of the school to say the Pledge around the flag pole. It wasn’t until I got home that Mom explained to me what had happened.
Junior year HS. I was home because of chronic eye problems that day; I remember my mother yelling up the stairs that the President had been shot.
I was a 6-month-old fetus, due to be born on February 29th (but of course that’s not when I arrived) and the doctor had just found my heartbeat when the nurse walked in and told them that the president had been shot.
I was 9 years old. I remember playing with a bunch of coins I had earned doing who-knows-what when my Mon told me someone had been shot and killed. The news over the next few days educated me on the “who” but I had no impression on the importance.
6th Grade. It was lunch time, but raining outside so we were all stuck in our classrooms. I don’t remember any adult preparing us for the news, just the PA coming on with radio bulletins. After that we did what all Catholic school students did - went to the church and prayed.
Two days later, when Ruby killed Oswald, I was the one who saw it live, and had to run upstairs to tell my parents.
Like the OP, I was in sophomore geometry, but a few hundred miles away from the OP in The Bronx. And it took some time for the teacher to convince us that this “rumor” we’d heard wasn’t some sort of joke.
Eighth Grade. Morning English class. Someone walked into the room and whispered in Sister Mary Jane’s ear, a radio was brought in and etc. ensued. Ruined my 13th birthday two days later.
2nd grade and my teacher also cried. Freaked me out as I think that was the first time I saw an adult cry. I knew this was BAD. I will never ever forget the sound of the drums during the funeral procession.
Ten-year-old fifth grader. We came back into our classroom from noon recess where our teacher told us that his wife had called to tell him that Kennedy had been shot. We had no radio or TV in our small country school, so he (the teacher) called his wife back, who reported that Kennedy had passed. We didn’t do much the rest of the school day.
That was my Dad’s birthday, so it’s a date that I have never forgotten.
Some people claim to remember their birth, but to remember events before you were born is singular!
I was two. I don’t remember a thing.
I was 5 1/2. I remember the neighbor lady and my Mom talking about it. I knew something important had happened, but I don’t remember how much of it I understood.
mmm
I don’t remember any of that either LOL. However, I do know what I was doing; does that count?
And my mother was on her first day of maternity leave when she saw Ruby shoot Oswald on live TV. Now, at the time many companies made women leave, or even fired them outright, when their pregnancies began to show, or were discovered, but hers actually allowed a year off (without pay) and she wanted to work until I was born, but my dad believed (and still does) that women should not work outside the home during late pregnancy, so at this point, he insisted that she leave her job, and she’s always been grateful for that because she didn’t know how uncomfortable late pregnancy is. During that time, she decided not to return to that job.
Grade 2, Canada, outside of Vancouver. We were sent home early, which made us very happy. (It may have made me into an anarchist….) I was also confused, because I knew the United States was close and so sort of assumed he must have been in Blaine, Washington
7th grade social studies class. The principal announced over the intercom that Kennedy had been shot and was taken to the hospital. The teacher, a middle-aged male who had fought in WWII, made a face like he had just been stabbed in the back.
Couple hours later, the principal came on the intercom again to announce that he had died. I was out on the P.E. field at the time, and couldn’t near the announcement clearly. But other people did, and the word spread all around very quickly.