He served less than a thousand days.. a lifetime ago..and yet ( How I choose to remember him)

[SoCalDem]

SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts)Thu Nov-22-07 09:21 PM

Original message

He served less than a thousand days.. a lifetime ago..and yet



People who never met him, and only learned of him by seeing a picture in Grandma's house, or in a book at school, and people all over the world, knew what he stood for, and admired him then, and still do.

He was young, by the standards of the day, and yes he may have been a "player", but he never embarrassed his country. He served 4 years in wartime, and acquitted himself admirably.

He was rich and could have partied his way through life, but he did not. The life he might have lost in wartime, he still lost in service to his country.

He met with "bad people".. He stared down our enemies, and they blinked. He erred with The Bay of Pigs fiasco, and like a man, he admitted it. He had courage and grace.

He was not petulant and secretive. No doubt he kept secrets, but he was not one to embarrass or belittle people .

He focused our hopes and aspirations, and looked to the future with fearless ambition...ambition to help the world and foster Peace..not to dominate and change regimes.

Millions of young people were inspired to put their lives on hold and venture to the four corners of the earth in the Peace Corps.

He "invented" the space program and within the 10 year goal he set, we had men on the moon..sent with computers with less power than your Blackberry.

The world liked us then. We were the hope of the world. Foreign dignitaries came to the US and were treated with respect and decorum..not hotdogs on the grill at Mom & Dad's house.

Every president since him, has served longer, and yet his legacy is the strongest.

The sad thing is that when he died, hope died with him. His brother tried to regain it for us, but was killed for his efforts.

It's almost as if we are afraid to care too much again for a candidate..any candidate, lest we get our hearts broken again.

People of my age remember when hope was limitless.. we could do anything... and then we couldn't.


We've had presidents who were in office longer, but none of them have retained the interest or admiration of JFK. You can go to any country on earth and mention JFK, and they will nod, in silent understanding ..even if they do not speak English.

Presidents after him have come and gone, and most of the time, it's with a kick in the pants and a "Good Riddance". People can name every building in DC after Reagan, and JFK's administration will still shine brighter than any of those "Thousand points of Light" that Reagan/Bush loved to talk about..

Maybe those Thousand points of light were the days we had Kennedy..and the lights have long ago gone out.

Maybe someday we will get another president who can inspire us.. I had one in my lifetime, and I wish the same for my children.

It could be that we just have not yet been introduced to that president.


edited to add.. Maybe we have had our "introduction"..only time will tell

[shraby]

1. I can kick and recommend, but cannot add or detract. Some

posts stand straight up without comments.

[FirstLight]

2. I missed that era

and yet i also know he was a noble man for his time. too many of those who would have changed our country died back then, and yet we can only go forward with what we have. ...and in my heart, the OWS movement is bringing back our pride in ourselves and our country.

[SoCalDem]

7. We can hope..n/t

[hifiguy]

3. Marvelous.

:patriot:

K & R

[Surya Gayatri]

4. Thanks for saying this

in such a beautiful and fitting way, SCD. Sure, he had his human foibles, but he paid the ultimate price for serving his country. Instead of enjoying the life of leisure and privilege he was born to, he chose public service.

Whatever any of the insane RW haters may say (including members of my own family), he was heads above anybody on their side. We were lucky to have known men like him.

Let's hope and pray that men and women of his stature come forward to serve in future.
SG

[Rowdyboy]

5. Though I was only 9, I remember that day clearly....

My mother's tears, my grand dad taking me to the barber shop where the radio went on and on and no one said anything-just listening in silence.

[MichiganVote]

12. Yup. I'll never forget the funeral walk. It was both tragic and uplifting.

Before there was ever a Marilyn, there was a Jackie Kennedy and she outdid them all.

[Carolina]

6. K&R

I am sitting here recalling that sad day, but that oh so different time. I lived in DC then and remember well the hope of January 20th 1961 and the sorrow of November 22nd, 1963...

Couldn't agree with your post more. My grown son who never ceases to marvel at how much Kennedy 'stuff' I have collected over the years, once asked me what was so special about President Kennedy. In unison, my sister and I remarked on hope -- genuine hope -- and inspiration. How there has been no president like him and how the country has never been the same.

Truth is while some say Reaganomics or Theft 2000 or 9/11 were the beginning of the end in this country, I think it was the assassination of JFK.

Time it was and what a time it was ... for 1,000 days!

RIP JFK

:hug: to you, SoCalDem

[peace frog]

8. God bless JFK

and may God have mercy on us all today.

[bpj62]

9. Eternal Flame

As long as that flame burns brightly night and day on that hill overlooking Washington his memory will never be forgotten. We miss him so badly because he never got to truly fufill his legacy. I was only a year old when he was assasinated and I have asked my mother what it was like in Washington DC that day and she said the sense of loss was so deep that people just stopped what they were doing and cried.

[Octafish]

10. Thank you, SoCalDem.

Every year it would get harder to keep going, were not for you and good people like you.

[SoCalDem]

11. Thanks.. & back-at-cha

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Whenever I watch JFK documentaries,

I still tear up, all these years later. I was 17 when the assassination happened. It changed my life.

[RebelOne]

14. Loved him. First time I was of age to vote, I voted for him. n/t