ANNIVERSARY THOUGHTS OF 11-22-63 -- NOV. 22

Forty-eight years ago, an event occurred that would change the world.

Speculation circled around for many years afterwards, with investigations, conspiracy theories, and wonder.

Now with Stephen King's new book, 11/22/63, out this month, we will continue to explore this event, but with a fictional twist.

Here's a brief synopsis that spotlights the story:

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.

Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.

 Now that our thoughts our zeroing in on this event, we have other books that also reveal that time.  The time later dubbed as Camelot.

In my book Chasing Stardust, set in the sixties and seventies, the character Merrilee Hennessey is working in a small legal office in Modesto, CA, when the news blares out on the TV playing in the break room.

Gwendolyn stood staring into the fridge with the door open, investigating its contents.  As she pulled out a stash of leftovers, Jonathan entered and turned on the TV.  A soap opera character peered into the face of another, their intense conversation suggesting secrets and betrayals.  Laughing, Gwendolyn reached up to switch the channel when a newscaster broke in with an announcement.

All three of them stood in shock and horror while Walter Kronkite broke the news.  In Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy had been gunned down while traversing the streets in his motorcade.  And, in Parkland Memorial Hospital, just a short time later, he had been pronounced dead.

A fallen prince, Merrilee thought, feeling detached, as if her mind stood over her body.

And as if that thought led logically in another direction, a series of pictorial images flashed through her mind, like a TV camera playing them for an audience.  She and Julie standing before the TV at the library less than three years before, watching the inauguration; Jackie and Jack entering a church, with that trademark lace mantilla covering Jackie’s bouffant hairdo; newspaper and TV photos of little Caroline and John-John, playing in the White House.  Images of Camelot.  Broken into shards by one violent act.

Next she felt Gwendolyn’s arms enfolding her, and realized that her body shook with sobs.

They all listened and watched like robots as the news features brought bits and pieces of information, revealing over and over again the images of Jackie in her pink suit covered with blood.  As the day progressed, they saw and heard that someone named Lee Harvey Oswald had been apprehended. 

In the end, they closed the office for the day and just hung out, talking and watching TV.  But despite their camaraderie, a mournful feeling hung like a dark cloak around them.  They ate, drank coffee, and later, sipped the Scotch that Jonathan poured. 

Shaking herself back into another reality, Merrilee thought about Colin and her responsibilities at home.  And about Julie, who would be devastated.  Grabbing the phone, she dialed the familiar number.

“Oh, Merrilee!”  Julie’s voice sounded strangely surreal when she answered the phone.  “Isn’t it horrible?  I don’t think I can go on!”

Something about the words and tone chimed in her ears like a warning bell.  But choosing to credit it to the situation they were all facing, Merrilee responded in kind.  “I know, I simply can’t believe it!”  And then she was off, reminiscing about the Kennedys and all the media images that had surrounded the Prince and Princess of Camelot during their brief time in the White House.

“Anyway,” Merrilee concluded.  “I just wanted to tell you that I’m staying on here at the office for awhile, if that’s okay.  Is Esther able to keep Colin a little longer?”

“Oh, sure,” Julie replied, but her voice now sounded detached.  “Take your time.  It’s fine.”

Hanging up the phone, Merrilee poured another drink and tried to forget that sound in Julie’s voice.  Focusing instead on mourning their lost prince, she and Gwendolyn and Jonathan drank and smoked and talked late into the night.

***

During those eventful days and weeks, I, too, was living in Modesto, CA, ready to embark on my new life as a married woman.  I was starting my junior year in college.

Everything seemed to change afterwards, and the moments will not be forgotten.  Do you have memories from that time?  If the events happened before your time, what do you first recall learning about this day?