Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash
It was 1968 and I was seven years old. I was at my elementary school, we were in the last period of the day and we were having physical education class. The day was brilliant, warm, sunny and we were headed towards summer. John F. Kennedy had left the schools a legacy to teach fitness to the American people. He had made physical education of the American masses his pet project back in the beginning of the sixties. His administration distributed a pamphlet to all the public schools with his personal encouragement and with these wise words: “The need for increased attention to physical fitness is clearly established. The government cannot compel us to act, but freedom demands it. A nation is merely the sum of all of it’s citizens, and it’s strength, energy and resourcefulness, can be no greater than theirs.”
Kennedy’s goals for the people of his country were to obliterate poverty, establish true equal rights for all people regardless of race, creed or color and integrate art into the center of American culture. He established the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress to bring American philosophies of freedom and prosperity to undeveloped nations of the world.
On that day in 1968, Kennedy was no longer with us, but President Johnson had carried forth his legacy. That day’s class included prescribed exercises and events to develop the physical fitness of school children. One of those events was a half mile race and there I was racing and I was way ahead. It felt great and I almost couldn’t believe it. My breathing was easy and I could feel the sun warming me. The heat of the sun seemed to jive well with running that day. I kept looking at my legs. They looked long to me and strong and the moved with a natural rhythm that felt great, but my knee socks kept falling down. I was compelled to stop each time they fell and pull them up. A lot of kids began to pass me, but all I could think of was pulling my socks up. I finally finished and was relieved that the race was over and the embarrassment of my falling knee socks was swiftly becoming the past. Needless to say, I didn’t win the race. Later in life I realized I was a fast funner and probably talented. It struck me as funny, that all I could think of at that time were my falling socks. It was the perfect example of not being able to see the forest through the trees. Getting caught up in minutia, details, obscurations-getting distracted. Something that still happens today, but not as frequently.
The brief time that Kennedy was president was an exciting time. I was just two when he was assassinated, but when his brother Robert decided to run for president in 1968, I was old enough to remember the time well. Even as a child, I could feel the excitement in the air. We were on the verge of significant change. My family had a black and white television and every evening our family would gather around to watch the news first and then a program. Usually a variety show with singing and dancing or sometimes a vintage movie. The Wizard of Oz or Gone With the Wind were televised once a year and were highlights of the year’s offerings. The World of Disney was a favorite too. Kennedy and his travels were well documented on the news and his plans for the future. With his assassination and then the end of his candidacy, the nation plunged into a pit of shock and grief. Everyone pulled their curtains and retreated to gather themselves. In the period that followed, we only watched the news for several weeks. But the elections were held and eventually Nixon was chosen to to lead the nation.
The nation went on, Americans stayed strong and I would remember forever the wonderful times of Kennedy and running for Kennedy, even with my knee socks falling down.