Remembering Obama, Kennedy and dad

Sorting through some of my parents' things, I came across the dilapidated cardboard box: a treasure trove of President John F. Kennedy memorabilia.

The collection - a hoard of newspapers, magazines, books, a scrapbook, trading cards and a decorative plate - bears an uncanny resemblance to many of today's offerings related to another historic figure: President-elect Barack Obama.

My mother and father, Lois and Ed McCann, saw John F. Kennedy in 1960 and met Barack Obama in 2004. According to my mom, there are some real similarities. She described what she and my father saw in John F. Kennedy.

"He was bringing something different to the White House," she remembered. "He was young, handsome and he had a young family. He was so different from the other candidates and so different than Nixon. We felt like he was bringing us a new vision for the future."

He was also the first Catholic to be elected president - an important milestone for my devout parents - and in addition, he was Irish.

My father served his country in World War II in the South Pacific. After the war he met, fell in love with and married my mom, 10 years his junior. Whatever dreams he might have had were deferred when, to support his growing young family, he went to work as a machinist at Caterpillar Tractor Company.

Even at our young ages, 3, 5 and 7, my brothers and I had grown up knowing the gravity of the phrases, "midnight shift," "overtime" and "on strike."

So it was only natural that my mother and father would go to see John F. Kennedy, with all his hopeful ideas, in person when he campaigned in Joliet in the fall of 1960.

"It was raining that night," recalled my mother. "I remember what dress I had on. It was black, with little checks."

They had left us in the care of relatives who lived near downtown Joliet and had walked to town.

They waited and waited outside the old Joliet Courthouse building on Jefferson Street as the energy of the crowd surged.

"Finally, he arrived. I remember him standing there. We stood in the drizzle. He had on a dark suit and a light blue shirt. He was so inspiring," my mother said.

"After he spoke, he got into an open car, a convertible. We ran alongside of the car as it drove down Scott Street. There were all kinds of people running alongside the car. We were crazy about JFK, just like people are today with Barack Obama."

Forty-four years later they were destined to meet another historic candidate and my father would make a fateful prediction.

In October 2004, Barack Obama was scheduled to speak at Benedictine University in Lisle. My parents arrived early and were among the first in line at the door.

By this time, my father was already crippled with rheumatoid arthritis and my mother had recently had hip surgery. They were ushered into the front row.

"After he spoke, I hobbled over," recalled my mother. Obama looked at her in surprise and told her he'd never seen anyone with a cane walk that fast.

My father came along behind her and extended his hand, saying, "I want to shake the hand of the next president of the United States!"

If Obama was put off by the sight of my father's gnarled, rheumatoid hands, he did not let on. Instead, he quipped, "I've got to get elected senator first!"

After asking their names, and some other small talk, he signed my parent's copy of "Dreams from My Father," writing, "To Ed and Lois, All the Best, Barack Obama."

Almost four years later, my father, in failing health, and I sat in a hospital room watching Barack Obama on the little television as he spoke to record crowds in Berlin. When Obama began speaking, my father seemed to forget his pain.

"Now there," he said, "is a statesman."

Although he spent his last few months in the hospital, he was proud to vote for Barack Obama by casting an absentee ballot. The doctors, nurses and hospital staff were inspired that as sick as he was, he was determined to have his vote counted.

"He could hardly write," my mother said.

My 86-year-old father lived long enough to see his candidate win the election, but not long enough to see Barack Obama sworn in as 44th president of the United States. Edward C. McCann was put to rest at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery on Jan. 12.

"I'm glad he lived long enough to see that Obama was going to be president. He'd be so thrilled," my mom said.

There are a lot of things that have disappeared over the years.

The old Joliet Courthouse building where Kennedy stood has been torn down and replaced by a newer, more modern building. The Woodruff Hotel on Scott Street, which the Kennedy motorcade passed that night, also is gone.

But the dreams and the hope remain and live on. Sometimes they are symbolized by the contents of a dusty cardboard box. Sometimes they are exemplified by a person who gives us hope.

All the best, Barack Obama. All the best.

• Kathy Slovick writes about Glen Ellyn.