A Memory From 1968

In 1968, I was ten years old. It was arguably the most turbulent year of a decade that saw major societal changes. Both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated that spring, only weeks apart.

When Kennedy died, it was announced that his body would lie in state at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and that the public would be allowed view his casket to pay their respects. On the spur of the moment, my mother decided that we all should go. I don’t think my father was especially keen on the idea, but he went along with it.

We lived in South Jersey at the time, with NYC being ninety miles away, so we all piled into the car and set off.

After we’d arrived and found a place to park, we discovered that the line waiting to get inside the church extended for blocks. We found the end of the line and settled in to wait. The line moved at a glacial pace, which soon became intolerable for the ten year old I was.

For a long time, I amused myself by talking to other people in line and looking in shop windows. Every store we passed had posted a large photo of Kennedy in the window with the years of his birth and death below his face.

Several hours later, we’d still not gotten inside. I’d stood as long as I could, but I finally ran out of gas. I was hot, tired, hungry, and my feet hurt. Around midnight or so, my father took me to a greasy spoon diner to get something to eat, while my mother and siblings continued to wait in line. Afterwards, my father and I returned to the car, where we both fell asleep; him in the front seat, me in the back.

Once they’d gotten inside and filed by Kennedy’s casket, my mother and siblings returned to the car. I remember that I was frustrated that I’d not been able to stay up long enough to see it through.

Thinking back, I can’t help but wonder how this country would have been different had Kennedy not been assassinated. He’d no doubt have gotten the Democratic nomination for President over Hubert Humphrey, and likely would have beaten Nixon in November.

Thoughts?