THE SADDEST WORDS

Of all sad words of tongue or pen
The saddest words are these:
"It might have been."
----John Greenleaf Whittier

50 years ago our President was killed. Everyone who was alive then is asking, "Where were you when....?" Books, documentaries, and discussions are surfeiting me. I have dozens of books here--some read--and some unread. On my library wall I have a print of the portrait seen here and I love the painting by Elaine de Kooning also seen here.

I hesitate to write about the loss because my words are so paltry and although my brain is roiling, I know I will never have the words to adequately describe the loss I felt then and now. Mary McGrory said, "We'll never laugh again" to which Daniel Patrick Moynihan answered, "We'll laugh, but we'll never be young again."

Listen to Phil Ochs' That Was The President; Phil wrote it shortly after the assassination and it's full of the raw emotion we felt.



Listen to Phil's masterpiece The Crucifixion, recorded years after the assassination when he had time to reflect. My favorite line is: "And do you have a picture of the pain?"



Quite simply, I still grieve for what might have been.