CHISELED IN TIME

I’ve lived long enough to see three presidents shot, with only one of the assassination attempts successful. For each event, I can tell you exactly what I was doing as it unfolded. You might say that they were permanently chiseled into my brain.

On November 22, 1963, I was in Mrs. Hagen’s fourth-grade class at Reese Elementary in Lubbock, Texas. After lunch, a television was unexpectedly rolled into the classroom with my teacher telling the students that President Kennedy had been shot. He was visiting Dallas that day and was in a motorcade that afternoon.

We watched things until being told the president died, with children being allowed to go home at this point. I rode my bicycle to school, so it was no problem. Others had to wait for buses.

My brother and I remained at home until the funeral was over, which was on Monday, November 25. I still remember solemnly watching the horse-drawn caisson with the president’s flag-draped casket and drums as the body was taken to Arlington Cemetery. I can still hear those mournful drums.

On March 30, 1981, I was playing miniature golf in Manhattan, Kansas, with my wife and her brother-in-law, Calvin. It was a stormy day with lightning and thunder crackling in the distance. We were the only three on the course with the Putt-Putt Mini Golf owner inside his little golf shack.

He had a radio station playing music on outside speakers when suddenly the music stopped, and a news reporter said that there had been an assassination attempt on President Reagan in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Joleen, Calvin, and I ceased playing, and the business owner asked if we’d heard the news, to which we said we had. With it now raining harder and lightning much closer, the concerned older man told us he was closing things down. He gave us tickets for another day.

The following year, when we went back to Manhattan to make good on our canceled game, the golf course was no longer in operation. Somewhere in my stored-away boxes of worthless collectibles are those two tickets. Even without them, I’ll never forget that day.

On July 14, 2024, Joleen and I were traveling from Prescott back to Lake Havasu City. We stopped at Westside Lilo’s Café in Seligman for lunch on the recommendation of our good friends, Jim and Pat Brownfield.

The café was packed, with most of the guests either Australian or Kiwi. It’s hard for me to differentiate their dialogues, as it is in the southern states. I had the Southwestern Chicken Sandwich while Joleen ordered a burger. I only remember this from looking at their website.

Before leaving, I ordered a couple of centerpieces of their world-famous carrot cake “to go.” They were large enough that just one would’ve sufficed. It was only minutes later that we found out about the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, from our son and daughter. They both texted us.

We listened to news reports the rest of the way home and were happy to hear President Trump was okay. After getting things unpacked, all we did for the rest of that evening was stay glued to the tube.

April 25, 2026, was no different from any other Saturday, in that we were watching Supercross motorcycle racing on NBC. That’s our sole sports addiction, and we pay extra for the Peacock channel just to have it.

It wasn’t until the race was over that we found out about the Washington Hilton Hotel shooting. It appears the shooter was after President Trump and members of his cabinet. Thankfully, Secret Service agents were able to keep this shooter from entering the main ballroom.

I’m not sure what significance watching a motorcycle race will have for me in remembering this historical moment, other than that the event took place in Philadelphia, called “The City of Freedom.”

Sadly, our country’s history is filled with such travesties, with, of course, President Lincoln’s and President Kennedy’s deaths most noteworthy. Hopefully, no more of these Trump assassination events take place, yet with the demonic hate spewing forth from the left, and Middle East terrorists, it seems inevitable!