I was four-and-a-half years old (as I would have told you, had we met at the time --- I was chatty). I remember it as a cold, dreary day in San Antonio, Texas. My mamma was washing clothes, and my daddy was at work at Randolph Air Force Base, where he repaired jet engines.
Mamma had a wringer washing machine back then (which beat washing clothes on a rubboard, let me tell you!) and she hung clothes on the line. She was watching one of her soap operas, As The World Turns, and would only go outside during the commercial breaks.
She was going to be outside for a while, and had ordered me to watch, and tell her what she missed. I was doing somethig else (coloring, I think) and so I don't recall when Walter Cronkite came on; I do remember running to the back door and calling for her to come in quick, because As The World Turns wasn't on the TV anymore. She came in, fussing at me for interrupting whatever she'd been doing outside.
It was the first time I remember seeing my tougher-than-nails mamma cry, and one of the only times I remember her calling my father at work. And I don't think he came home that night; I think they put all the bases in town on alert for the next few days.
I remember watching the funeral on TV, and marvelling at the horse without a rider, with the boots backward in the stirrups ...
Yes, Anne, I remember exactly where I was. Thank you for prodding me to write it down.
Your welcome
I was five years old. My dad's oldest sister was "keeping" me at our house while my mom worked. She was ironing and I was playing in the floor. I seem to recall that I had my dad's playing cards of which she did not approve. I said, "it's okay, I'll just play with the hearts." (there's a good possibility that I'm merging memories).
We didn't have the TV on. We found out when my brother came home early from school and told us. I too remember the riderless horse and the service at St. Matthew's Cathedral.
Being only five, I didn't quite grasp the impact of what happened.
Over on my blog today, I posted JFK's Inaugural Address and pondered whether JFK would recognize the Democrat Party today.