Two momentous events 80 days apart

My grade school life was intertwined with President Kennedy. I have a memory of seeing him in Elgin during his campaign trip through the Fox Valley. On Nov. 22, 1963 I was in sixth grade at Coleman School in Elgin. At the teacher’s request, I took the after-lunch attendance sheet to the office. The office radio was on, and I heard the first report that the president had been shot. When I returned to class, I leaned across the aisle and whispered what I heard to a friend. Later, that afternoon the principal visited each classroom, solemnly telling us that the president had died.

President Kennedy was buried on my 11th birthday. My parents asked me to watch the televised funeral with them, telling me this was an important historical event. Each birthday I say a little prayer for a fallen president.

November turned to Christmas, and the new year of 1964. Little did I realize that 80 days after the assassination, the second most prominent event of the ’60s would take place” The Beatles first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

After that time I entered public administration, serving the state of Illinois Department of Mental Health and currently serving as the assistant village administrator in Gilberts. The halcyon days of Camelot and a sense of the New Frontier had stayed with me, propelling me into public service.

Looking back now, I share these thoughts and experiences with granddaughters, who see the historical videos but don’t realize how deeply the nation was consumed by this senseless act. Nor do they understand the musical and cultural pivot point that occurred 80 days later. The two defining moments of the 1960s, only 80 days apart.

William Beith

Campton Hills