Sixth Floor

Sometimes you spend your whole life in a place and never see what's right under your nose.

I had to go to college, get married, move all over the state of South Carolina and then finally come back to the motherland before I got to the top of reunion tower.

Joe and Lynn had to fly in from across the country in order to get me to the Sixth Floor of this building.
The four of us donned our headsets, pressed "1," and were methodically walked through the life of John F. Kennedy, his presidency, his death, and his intrigue/legacy.
I knew how the story ended.

I had heard Mom tell me numerous times how she will never forget the day her teacher turned the TV in her middle-school classroom and they watch the live news reports on the assassination of the president.

We use to sit at the kitchen table eating lunch in between homeschool "classes" and she told us how appalled and embarrassed she was for the people living in Dallas. With a chuckle, in our north Dallas home of 15 years, she would say that on the day JFK was killed she wondered how anyone could possibly want to live in or be from Dallas.

And yet, somehow, despite knowing exactly where my audio tour guide was taking me, it was a somber exhibition. Something about seeing the video footage, hearing real live people being interviewed brought everything to life.

Danny standing near the X on Elm Street where JFK was shot.
And, my new favorite picture of Danny and I!
As we were wrapping up our educational/conspiracy theory tour, Joe informed us that going to the Sixth Floor Museum was on his top ten list of "Things To Do Before He Dies," and he could now check it off.

That's a successful trip to visit the kids if I've ever seen one.

Next is going on an African Safari.