me
first grade,
Central School,
2nd floor-level grades 1-3,
Lincoln, Illinois,
teacher Mrs. Moore,
principal Mrs Sandleman (pejorative most used to describe her “peg leg”),
time about 1:30pm,
weather sunny,
walls plaster with an institutional light pastel green hue,
floors hardwood,
announcement in person by the principal “The President of the United States has been shot and killed in Dallas, Texas.”
vibe grim
no safe spaces
That’s a good example of remembering certain things during a traumatic event. I also remember details.
“no safe spaces” That’s right. America was America then. Our Dads had fought in WW II less than 20 years before and they certainly didn’t convey the need for safe spaces to us.
I was in Chicago, first grade, Mrs. Walsch, same lighting, same plaster, same hardwood floors, taking a spelling test. Yup, no safe places. Heck, there were no crossing guards on Ashland (four lane main artery). I was told to only cross when the light was green and after I looked both ways. I was told I would die if I didn’t follow the rules. I did’t now what “die” meant other than it was not a good thing.
5’th grade
Our Lady of Fatima School
Secane, PA
Sister Andrew Marie known as SAM.
We were in a temp classroom in the church basement. No loudspeaker.
7’th grade came kid bursting in saying president shot.
Did your school have practice drills in case of a nuclear bomb attack?
We did but were too young to understand how fruitless most of it would have been in the event of a real attack.
The idea of putting heads down to keep us from looking out the windows had some merit though.