That weekend.....

I was coming out of Spanish class with Susanne Carvalho. It was Friday afternoon and I don't remember if there were any plans that weekend. There usually were. Our mutual friend Mary Cunningham was waiting for us. This was very strange because Mary was a commuter student and would normally have waited in one of our dorm rooms.
"Kennedy was killed" she blurted out.
"Very funny, Cunningham" I shot back. But then she started to cry and she never cried-she was the cool,unflappable one.
We sat in her car in the parking lot for a long time, listening to the radio. I was too much in shock to cry. But then I rarely cried.
Marymount was a Catholic college of course and portraits of Kennedy hung proudly all over campus. That evening there was a special Mass, the first of many. We all slapped on our mantillas and clutched our missals. We were never so well-behaved. I was a brand new convert and yes, it was so comforting.
Susanne's father called her from Fall River that evening and told her,"You're now a part of history!" and she replied "But I don't want to be!" and thats how we all felt.
That was the first day.