62 YEARS AGO

ONE THING THAT I’VE LEARNED ON THIS SITE is how many different bodily malfunctions can lead to a person having to have ostomy surgery. In my own case, it was ulcerative colitis which, after a painful and lengthy preliminary engagement, put me in the hospital in November, 1963. I was in sorry shape, hurting badly, and confined in what was called a semi-private room in upstate New York. Televisions were not as common then as now, and if you wanted one in your room, it cost extra, which my relatives had sprung for, even though I was somewhat beyond being able to appreciate the gesture. One day, nurses and other hospital staff began crowding into my room to watch the TV. I had no idea why. There was a lot of exclaiming, people coming back and forth. I was too sick to comprehend what was happening. It was November 22, 1963. John F. Kennedy had just been assassinated in Dallas. Later, in retrospect, I realized how fortunate I was. At least I survived.

I had been having gastro issues for about 3 months, which the doctors had been unable to diagnose and treat successfully. They performed a sigmoidoscopy, during which a portion of my colon was perforated. I had to have emergency surgery for a colostomy, which saved my life (and resolved my gastro issues). Regarding the Kennedy assassination, I think most of us who were alive at the time remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. I was in school at recess when a nun gathered us all together and took us back to our schoolroom, where we watched Walter Cronkite on the TV. The only other thing I remember exactly was when I saw my grandmother suffer a stroke at the dinner table and fall to the floor. She died several hours later. I think we remember traumatic events more clearly than most other memories.

I was alive at the time of the Kennedy assassination, but I do not remember it. I was 2 years old. My mother has told me she was home with me and my younger sister when she heard. I remember the later assassinations of the real RFK and MLK Jr., but I was still too young to comprehend them at the time. Youth is something of a shield protecting us from distant reality.

I remeber John F Kennedys death..I was about 5 years old walking home from kindergarten with my best friend Chip we stopped at her Mom's barbershop.  Her Mom was crying her eyes out..she told us a great man died today.

When Dr Martin Luther King died I was in the kitchen with my mom..my Dad ran into the kitchen shouting Lois "they killed MLK"..they both went into their room and listened for hours to the radio.Me and my sisters and our neighbors who came over and we all sat on our large porch in fear..because young men were riding bikes thru the streets stating they were going to riot and get all the white folks..my best girlfriend was white(and sitting with us). I was so afraid they would kill her and her whole family by morning.

I had 2 inguinal hernias repaired in 2008 with mesh. Over the decades, the mesh adhered to my sigmoid colon and bladder, puncturing the colon in 2022. Fortunately, my surgeon was able to remove all the mesh from my bladder without damaging it. The sigmoid colon was tossed.

I was 5 in '63.

How to Get Back to Fitness After Ostomy Surgery with Ryan | Hollister

I didn't realize the date until I read your post, Henry. I walked home from school for lunch. When I walked into our kitchen, my mom was crying and told me why. I remember she had made pea soup and homemade biscuits, my favorite lunch. Even as an 'almost twelve' year old Canadian kid, it affected me profoundly. It seemed unimaginable that someone could do that, and I remember feeling upset in the days that followed, that life just went on as it always had. How could that be?

Terry

Geez. 1962... in the same boat as Sue. Alive. At home, playing with G.I. Joe. Whose butt I'd have 60 years later.

Only recall the Beatles landing. And Armstrong's walk on the moon. Not sure if Michael Jackson developed his moonwalk then. He too was a child. A wee bit older than I.

Quick time capsule. We are lucky, though. Joe and us are still here. Two of the Beatles are still performing.

I have always regarded the killing of JFK as the end of the 'good old days.'  

I was in French class in the 10th grade. The principal read the report over the PA system. And while rearranging some of my copious family "heirlooms" the other day, I came across the Chicago Tribune from Saturday morning, the 23rd. I forgot I had that. There are also several copies of the local paper. It is interesting to read the reporting from that time.

That Saturday morning, my father and I were off to deer camp. After all, the first week of deer camp is a ritual in the U.P. I had a small transistor radio and an earpiece. I didn't stand a chance of shooting Bambi because I was too focused on what was happening. That turned out to be my last time hunting with my dad.

Daniel

I remember Armstrong's walk on the moon. My parents let me stay up late that night, and I am so glad they did. I treasure that memory.

I was on guard duty at Fort Hood when the moon landing took place. We sneaked a small portable television into the guard shack and huddled around for the event. Not much got guarded that night. :-)

Daniel