As we walked into the school build that morning, most of us heard for the first time that Bobby Kennedy had been shot overnight and was in critical condition in the hospital.
Back then, no tweets, no internet, no cable news.
News traveled slowly, but lost none of it cruelty in transit.
We were allowed to go the the multi-purpose room (a theater seating like arrangement) during study halls and free periods that day to watch TV coverage.
The room was packed all day.
We stayed on until the final word came down.
Another Kennedy was dead.
With him, went a lot of the dreams of a generation.
We came to school as high school students that morning and went home a hell of a lot older.
The vacuum he left on the campaign trail was never filled and no doubt led to the violence in Chicago that summer.
That day kind of was the dividing line between childhood expectations and adult realities. RFK opened many of our eyes to the real world and the s*hole much of the country really was. And our war with no end raging in Vietnam. But he offered hope and solutions as well.
Now he was gone, the dreams were over, the problems still festering, but now no solutions were there. No one stepped up to the plate to fill his shoes.
We were on our own, and confusion and chaos replaced security and optimism.
Since those days, a lot of politicians on both sides have talked the same talk, but I never believed any of them like RFK. I think he really meant what he said. He walked the walk as well.
We later learned that he was still only a man, with faults, and he made mistakes, he was not really a saint, but that day, in 1968......he was.
Had he gone of win the presidency, no telling where we would be today.
Certainly, in a much better place than we are now.
