5 Simple Words...

 JFK was dead and buried. It was 79 days later...not a long time, at all. But America and the world were locked in a deep funk with no end in sight. The images that framed The Tragedy of our young generation were etched into our souls so deeply that we went about our routine without memory of much else.

To be a very young teenager of that time was confusing and frustrating. The very recent Holiday season had passed under a dark cloud..forever changed. Our distractions and pastimes of that age would seem primitive by today's multimedia barometer.

 Imagine if you can, a world without digital technology. No cell phones, ipad, ipod,no streaming video..no instant gratification. If you took Holiday pictures, you could probably see them in a week or so. If you parents needed emergency cash, they went to the bank, hat in hand, to beg.

 There was really little good to look forward to. A high school dance, maybe. Your birthday. We were even a little young to be dating, seriously. The Holidays had just passed, with another seemingly endless year to wait for them again. Everyone knew, and still knows,  exactly where we were when our innocence died. We were with each other. Classmates. Partners and witnesses to our first Apocalypse.
 A comedian named Vaughn Meader had been an instant hit with his Kennedy Family spoof album.."The First Family". It sold out of stores in a few hours. Now, 79 days later, it was well on it's way to the attics and basements...we couldn't bear to listen.

Kids, especially teenagers, live in the NOW. If you were feeling blue about a girl or boy who dumped you, the cure could come quickly with a smile or a wink from someone new. The world as we knew it had become instantly confusing and bewildering because we stood on the cusp of the grown-up stage of our lives. But we didn't want to jump in with both feet, not yet. We weren't REALLY sure what was on the other side. We saw our parents end their daily routines plopped in a chair or stretched out on the couch..focused on the box in the living room. Most times, we watched what our parents wanted to watch on TV, unless it was daytime and we were home from school with Pretendicitus..                                  

Our life's Soundtrack was taken up with the likes of Bobby Vinton...Little Peggy March.....Ricky Nelson....Lesley Gore..The Angels.....a new kid named Stevie Wonder...and, of ALL things.....a Singing Nun.  We had SUPER groups such as the Four Seasons and The Angels. All, however, took second place in our minds to the Dark Days in Dallas.

Finally..on February 9, 1964, a funny looking, skinny little man who came to our homes each weekend took the television stage on Sunday night and spoke 5 simple words....
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...THE BEATLES!"

I finally saw the Sun shining.