HughHarris

A long walk home as a 3rd grader in Waco, TX. 50 yrs ago today.

I don’t remember to much of the announcement at school that day but living just 90 miles from the event that cost so much loss of innocence seemed very scary to an 8 yr old. I do remember teachers crying and the principal at Cedar Ridge Elem. Coming on the intercom & telling us school was closing & we were allowed to walk home. Well over a mile from my house imagine today turning 8yr olds loose with all the hysteria going on. I also remember rumors flying around that the Russians were going to attack. I believe this was my first recollection of Dan Rather & Walter Cronkite. I also recall the first time seeing many adults crying and staring in to space and being unnerved by so many questions and so many not knowing what to do.

This event of JFKs death was just the prelude to so many more events of tragedy & turmoil during my adolescence – his brothers death, MLK, a crazed gunman in the UT Tower in Austin, Kent State, Watts Riots, protest at the Democratic Convention & the threat of being drafted when I turned 18.

These times seem far away but they shaped my early years and solidified that our only hope is in the work on the Cross. A tragic, scandalous time for sure. Ultimate Peace is coming though. May it be on Earth as it is in Heaven.

November 22, 2013 - Posted by hughharrisfca | Uncategorized