I remember it well as this was the day i had the second surgery to remove the cancer spreading in my throat. Six months earlier surgeons had operated and thought they had removed all of it. This time they did get it all and i'd live happily ever after but i didn't know that at the time and needless to say was scared to death; i was 19 years old and i had 3 small children to raise.
And then the news came down from nurses and visitors to the hospital that President John Kennedy had been assassinated this very morning and that sickened and scared me even more.
JFK was my hero and my pastime had been a scrapbook about him which ended soon after he died when i began a new scrapbook; this one on his brother Robert, which also ended abruptly.
I don't make scrapbooks anymore.
But on this day 47 years ago Nov. 22, 1963 i was in shock at the news and then being in recovery from the surgery i wasn't able to see any of it on tv and several weeks had passed by the time i was able to go home. By then the coverage wasn't being repeated. I often felt i was the only person on earth who hadn't seen the whole thing live or at least fresh. And being as how i was his biggest fan, well, it dosn't even compute how badly i wanted and needed to see it all. I always recall this every year on this date.
I was scared, as scared as those terrifying 6 days previously when everyone in Canada and the U.S. was scared to death; we were on the brink of a nuclear war! Some of that fear was of mistakes or somebody accidentally hitting a red button but mostly it was the threat itself as the message was very clear to all.
Thank God for President Kennedy keeping his cool and handling it the way he did; he wasn't my hero for nothing.........
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Cuban missile crisis (1962). In May 1960, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev promised military assistance to the beleaguered
Castro regime in Cuba. Two years later, he saw that the USSR's relations with Cuba also represented a unique opportunity to offset the threat posed to Moscow by US nuclear missiles based in Turkey. In addition to aircraft, air defence systems, armoured vehicles, and troops, Khrushchev offered a selection of nuclear-armed medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. Castro accepted the offer and within months the USA and the USSR were on the verge of all-out nuclear war. On 14 October 1962, following indications of increased military activity on Cuba and a growing Soviet presence, an American U-2 aircraft photographed missile sites in western Cuba. Subsequent intelligence indicated that the missiles—SS-4 and SS-5, both with 1 megaton warheads—had the ability to reach almost the entire continental USA, including every Strategic Air Command base. On 22 October 1962, after intense debate in the Executive Committee (ExComm) of the National Security Council, during which the possibilities of aerial bombardment or invasion of Cuba were discussed, US Pres John Kennedy announced a maritime
blockade to prevent further shipments of missiles and military equipment. Kennedy also demanded that Khrushchev dismantle and remove all missiles from Cuba. For six terrifying days, the two superpowers considered their options until on 28 October Khrushchev agreed to Kennedy's demands. In return, the USA agreed never to invade Cuba and (secretly) to remove its missiles from Turkey.
— John P. Campbell
Read more:
http://www.answers.com/topic/cuban-missile-crisis#ixzz163bOQjlC
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4 comments:
I had no idea...that you too had faced that enemy, cancer. It is more popular than we would want to be, right? Your experience reminds me of mine on 9.11. I have written about it a few times, always on the anniversary.
It was the day the world cried but I didn't. I was crying for my daughter in the hospital surving an almost fatal dog attack and I was losing my hair, the effects of the chemo 3 weeks earlier. Every 9.11 I feel I missed on what the world grieved so I grieve every year.
OMG that must have been horrible what you were going through on what was already a terrible day. I remember feeling that nobody cared because of other more important things that were happening and in fact due to neglect i immediately got a staph infection that went totally out of control.
Yet the fact that President Kennedy was dead was also important and disasterous for me and i was helpless, stuck away alone in the farthest room in the place.
Geeze, such a long time ago for me, only 9 years ago for you and 9-11 still seems so fresh.
These events will be a life long thing for both of us. btw, i also got cervical cancer 22 years later and hysterectomy took care of that, then 13 yrs later i was dx'd with PBC.
How old was your daughter when the attack happened to her and did she recover fully? Does she have scars or fear of dogs and is 9-11 an awful day for her too?
I knew you had NHL and i googled it a long time ago. I guess i didn't remember that it's a form of cancer.
Yes, cancer and even PBC are much more evident now; i guess due to science and better testing.
My daughter is a real trooper. She has major scars on her leg and lost one of her ears but...refuses more reconstructive surgery. Tells me "it doesn't bother me, why does it bother you?"
She is not afraid of dogs, as an 8 old she told the doctors she knew it was a mean dog but all the others were good dogs.
NHL, it is a blood kind of malignancy.
You should check www.celebratelifehalfmarathon.com. It's a race I organize for survivors. Check it out.
You are a major survivor!!!
Myriam you and your daughter are both fabulous survivors. What a brave little girl she was and full of wisdom too.
I went to the link you provided and saw you there, several pics and you are a really beautiful woman. What a great thing you're doing organizing these races to raise $ and i imagine awareness of the various cancers as well. Now i know more about NHL besides it being just a hockey league.
My kudo's to you kid; you're one tough girl, beautiful inside and out! Keep up the running and i'll be rooting for ya 03/13/11
I was wondering if your home town was Cartagena, maybe i spelled it wrong. Anyhow, i was there 3 or 4 yrs ago and it was really pretty and the people very friendly. I liked it.
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