I was in 7th grade Art class, the last period of the day. The Principal came over the PA to announce the president had been shot and there were unofficial reports that he was dead. As I recall, a little while later they switched the PA to broadcast the news reports and we listened to the official announcement that President Kennedy was dead.

It was 2 days before my 12th birthday. Eisenhower and Kennedy were the only two Presidents in my memory. There was God, there was Jesus, and right below them there was the President of the United States.

The world turned upside down that day. Not because it was Kennedy, but because it was the President. I'm not sure it has stopped spinning for me since.