November 23, 1963 was Saturday

The day after America was laced with shock and sorrow due to the assassination of our president, John F. Kennedy.

I have no clue what I did on that Saturday, after all I was in kindergarten. Crayons and cartoons, plus I'm sure a cat or two had my sole attention. I was in Iowa, so far from Dallas, Texas at the time. I had yet developed my love of geography, so Dallas or Washington DC, for that matter, could have been right next to the A & W Drive-In and I wouldn't know it. I was five years old.

What I do remember of that time--and it could be the day of the assassination, since I was with my Aunt Will as she babysat me while my mom went to work in the afternoon, until my dad pick me up about 5. I asked Aunt Will if President Kennedy was in Heaven. My aunt said he was. Then how could I still see him on TV if he was in Heaven? I wish I could remember how Aunt Will explained it to me. Must have been OK, since I went on about my business.

I do remember thinking of Caroline, who was a year or so older than me. I understood Caroline wasn't going to have her daddy anymore. That sunk in. I held my daddy close. I felt sad for Caroline then.

And I still feel sad for Caroline now.

April 4, 1968 was Thursday

Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated this day in Memphis.
I watched some cartoon on my TV while I waited for supper.
Then ABC broke into my cartoon, and I was upset--at first.
The action in our kitchen stopped.
I heard my daddy say "I'll be damned."
Silence from my mom.
I really didn't get it then.
Except I knew Martin Luther King's children wouldn't have a daddy.
Same way I felt when Caroline Kennedy lost her daddy.
On this day, so many years later. I still think of the King children.
One is Home with her parents.
The other three seem to be layered with discontent.
I wish I could ask my own parents their own thoughts on that Thursday in 1968.

Fast forward to this day in 2009.
What a glorious day the Lord has made and be glad in it.
Attended a breakfast meeting, which seemed to help me more than the meeting's leader.
More validation and fellowship about my passions.
More thought to step out of the box.
More than I thought I had--yet really haven't.
It's been a horrible week due to some ill fated decisions.
I thought He gave me the go-ahead.
Wrong.
It was more the go-head to see how I tackle a barrel of rotten apples.
Truth is, I feel the peace inside me as I work on the resolve.
He didn't bring me this far to leave me.

Just like He didn't leave Martin Luther King Jr.

We are blessed.