LETTER — Calautti: Memories of JFK always abound for me near Nov. 22

The History Channel

To the Editor:

Nov. 22 always brings back a distant, faded, childhood memory for me, one of my first conscious memories.

My family lived on Kearny Avenue, just north of the old Thistle Fish & Chips. It was a crisp day and my mother, as she often did, bundled me up and put me in my stroller for a walk through West Hudson Park.

I was just shy of 3. It was a day like many others and after our stroll, we exited the park down its arching stairway and headed north on Kearny Avenue.

A man was walking toward us and he was crying.

My mother stopped to speak with him and then she started crying.

This was all very strange to me, as I was not used to seeing adults crying. My mother’s pace quickened and we saw a group of people gathered outside Finelli’s Barbershop.

In those days, barbershops often had small black-and-white televisions in the window. Now, all the adults were crying. The news was reporting that President John F. Kennedy had been shot.

What a way to be welcomed to this world.

James Calautti
Kearny

 

Learn more about the writer ...

Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.