January 15, 1961

My husband was born 47 years ago today.

By 1967 - the year I was born - he was a worldly man of 6.




His lifetime had already seen the first American fly into space, the Beatles invade America, the U.S. enter the VietNam War, and a man who shared his birthday give a speech called "I Have A Dream" - to name just a few major events.

Of course, my husband remembers none of these things.
One of his earliest memories though, is related to perhaps the most significant event in a decade full of significant events.

It is of a little boy his age he saw on television. All he remembers is seeing the little boy stand in a salute. My mother-in-law would tell me later that my husband asked her what the little boy was doing and why.

The little boy was John F. Kennedy Jr., saluting his father's retreating casket.
A famous image, shown on probably every documentary ever aired about JFK's life and death, I've seen it more times than I can count and am moved by it every time....
this chubby-legged, solemn-faced 3 year-old in such a grown-up pose.......contradictory but very fitting , even though he couldn't have understood the significance of any of it. Did he even understand that his father wasn't coming back?

I don't remember any of the 60's, but when I think of that period in history, that image of John-John stands out.
It's kind of weird and yet somehow cool, to be married to someone who even vaguely remembers seeing it when it happened.

And now I have to post this while it is still my husband's birthday.

Happy Birthday Man of Mine.