I was a student at Lenoir-Rhyne College and in Chemistry Class attempting to follow through on an assignment to insert a long glass thermometer through a rubber stopper. Forcing the tube into the rubber, I broke the glass, cutting my finger..as blood flowed I panicked and sought out the help of the senior lab assistant who was in the lab supply closet. The guy made a remark, Oh, by suppertime you will probably keel over from the mercury in your system. My ears began ringing and my vision blurred as I knew that I was likely fainting, the only time in my life that that has ever happened. I was helped to the floor where upon recovering from the experience, I realized that I was lying on my back on the cold concrete floor. Someone walked in the room and announced to the assistant that President Kennedy had been assassinated. Before being allowed to leave school early and go home, I was told to go sit down to make certain I was okay to drive. The news on television that weekend was moment to moment news coverage of the tragedy in Dallas. I recall on Sunday afternoon seeng live video of the murder of the presumed assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald by nightclub owner, Jack Ruby. The Kennedy funeral cortage through the streets of Washington showed the flag-draped casket on a Civil War-era horsedrawn caisson. I have copies of the local newspaper accounts of the tragedy and its aftermath as well as the Washington Post that someone sent me. For years the finger that was cut by the glass thermometer left an indelible scar that reminded me constantly of the significance of Friday, November 22, 1963, an event that will ever come to mind as our country observes the 50th anniversary of the murder of our national leader.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:56:21 +0000