Like a Boss

GPOYW - Dealey Plaza Edition (Photo by Brian)

This photo in Dealey Plaza was pretty special for me. My whole life, my Mother would expound her loves upon me. They were few & usually had to do within the realm of her younger time in life. She’s why my favorite football team is the 49ers. She’s why Paul McCartney is my favorite Beatle. She’s also why JFK is my favorite president.

I’ve done reports on JFK all throughout school. Seen tons of shows, movies, & documentaries concerning him. Heard her tell the stories of how she heard & what it was like at that point in history. I still don’t have a good grasp of who shot him and why. Not why as in, “what reason, because there were none”, but why as in “what reason out of many”. I wonder if we’ll ever know the whole truth and nothing but.

Anyways, when I went to visit my Dallas Crew a few months back, I made it a point to see Dealey Plaza where the whole thing went down. It’s smaller than you might think. You also get a sense of how small of a crowd was there and, if you know much about the actual events of the assassination, you get a sense of where certain people were for each separate event.

Call me dramatic, but there was a pretty heavy feeling being there amongst history. Seeing where Abraham Zapruder stood, taking one of the most infamous home movies in history. Walking over the road that had at one point the blood of the president. Watching people drive on that same road, where Jackie held his head in that Pink outfit. Standing behind the Grassy Knoll, with the graffiti and carvings left by tourists on the same fence that has stood there ever since. Looking up at the Texas School Book Depository’s 6th floor window.

I need to check out the 6th Floor Museum next time I’m out there, since we didn’t have much time my last visit. If I had things my way, I’d go visit that Plaza on every trip to Dallas. I need to take my Mom there too. I have a feeling it’d be a pretty important trip for both of us.