The assassination of President Kennedy is one event that I remember clearly.  It happened at the very difficult time because my Dad and I were living with my Grandmother and Aunt Mary upstairs our home.  (see other post when Dad and Joe moved out).   I was a junior at Woodbridge High attending the Morning session (it was so crowded that there was a morning and afternoon session).  I came home after school and went upstairs with the grandmother.   The TV was on and news hit me and everyone so hard.  I was glued to the TV as the events unfolded before our eyes.   I don’t remember any specific conversations with my grandmother but we both sat and watched in unbelief.  Everyone was shocked and stayed glued to the TV for days as the events unfolded in real time before our eyes.

While I was in high school my father and I moved out of our home for a short period of time during the fall of 1963. (I know the date because Kennedy was assassinated while this was happening.) My father and step-mother Marge were fighting continuously and it came to the point where my Dad thought it was unsafe for us to remain (when Marge threatened him with a kitchen knife).   At the time my brothers were between 4 and 6 years old and didn’t understand what was happening.  So I remember my Dad coming to Woodbridge High (the start of my junior year) and taking me out.  My cousin Dolores and Warren welcomed us into their home with open arms so that’s where we stayed.   My brothers remained at home with Marge.

It  was a difficult time for me and my Dad.  I really missed by brothers and they missed me and their Dad.   I don’t remember how long we stayed with Dolores but it was a month if not longer.     My Dad then decided that we would move in with my grandmother and Aunt Mary who lived upstairs from my home.   I remember my brothers coming upstairs (when Marge allowed them to come) and getting to be together.  It was a difficult time.  This continued for quite some time (several months) before we finally returned to our downstairs home.

But things were never the same.  Before this happened Marge would not let me go my cousin’s house down the street and in other ways “controlled” me.  And I let her to keep the peace.  That ended and I began to spend a lot more time with my Ragucci cousins and aunts and uncles.  In fact it  eventually led to me meeting my future wife Rose through Tony.    God works in strange and mysterious ways….