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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

"If it's Tuesday, it must be . . ." tumblr. Week Nine


Today is Tuesday, and yes, I have said, if it's Tuesday it must be tumblr (and it still is a tumblr day), but before I send you there, please let me digress a bit, as it is also the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a time when many children are making line drawings in school — using their hand as a pattern — such as the one by yours truly posted above today's blog entry. Additionally, it is also November the 22nd, a day which changed the lives of many — in 1963 — when President John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated. I wrote about what I was doing on that fateful day in a blog entry this past November (2010), and if you would like to refer to it, you may do so by clicking here.

However, as I stated yesterday, TLLG is not a political or social justice blog (there are plenty of good ones about those topics out in cyberspace), but, be that as it may, I do want to acknowledge Caroline Kennedy today. Forty-eight years ago on this day, November the 22nd 1963, when Caroline Kennedy was five days shy of turning six years old, there is a possibility, that she, too, was creating line drawings like the one I have just described, whimsical and carefree in structure and fun to create for Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, by the afternoon any whimsicalness she might have felt was obviously shattered. For by that hour, she had not only suffered the death of her newly born sibling, Patrick , who had died that past August, but her father, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated; and surely she must replay these events in her mind on this day, especially when the media will replay and replay the event that occurred in Dallas.

I do not keep tabs on what Caroline Kennedy does or does not do; as I am one of those — to quote Herb Gardner – who has "given up on the (21st) century in favor of making it through the week."*

Rather, Ms. Kennedy is on my mind today because, like her, I was a child when J.F.K. was assassinated (Caroline is my sister's age), and the impact of the tragedy, and of any tragedy or trauma on a child, forever shapes their view of the world. From what I observe, Ms. Kennedy does not seem to be burdened with her past scars as others (including yours truly) tend to be. But, before I get too philosophical or begin to sound presumptuous (after all I have nothing in common with Caroline Kennedy except that we both live in New York City, work as writers, and were children when her father was assassinated), I'll leave my thoughts on Caroline Kennedy for you to mull over, as I am certain you have your own ideas and perceptions, which you are always welcome to share with me within the comments field at the end of this blog.

P.S. *The quote is from Herb Gardener's play, I'm Not Rappaport, and I referred to Mr. Gardener at the onset of this blog in a post you may access via this link.

AND WITHOUT, FURTHER ADO, SINCE IT IS TUESDAY AND IT MUST BE TUMBLR, PLEASE CLICK HERETO GO THERE!

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