JFK's Birthday

"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'" ~  President John F. Kennedy, August 1, 1963 in Bancroft Hall.  (Image and quote from the United States Naval Academy's Facebook page.)

It's beyond by ability to imagine that this vibrant, youthful President would be 96 years old today.  His boyish image is forever frozen in our memories.  To remain young in the minds of others is small consolation for a life that ended tragically and much too soon.

 

People who knew him well— when he was in the service and until his death in Dallas—have described the horrific pain he was in most of the time.  He managed to hide his health condition and his pain in order to enter in the military  He reportedly slept with a sheet of plywood under his mattress during his time in the Navy, and took an assortment of prescription drugs in an effort to manage the pain. 

 

His determination to serve his country during wartime—despite the pain—makes him a hero in my book; that's before considering the lives he saved in the PT boat experience most of us have heard or read about.  It took considerable courage and endurance to put himself through the rigors of political campaigns, as well— for the Senate and later for the Presidency.  

A historian who examined his medical records was stunned at the extent of the health problems that the seemingly vigorous president dealt with.  "There was hardly a day that went by that he didn't suffer terribly," presidential historian Robert Dallek, a history professor at Boston University, told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.  (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125593&page=1#.UaZPbeuvXbk)

It's a pleasure to think of JFK today—May 29, 2013.  I'm not even tempted to imagine what he would be like at 96 if he were still with us.  Instead,  I'm thinking "Of course he's a Gemini."  The Gemini men I know (including my son) are excellent communicators; they're charming and love to learn.  Even though attractive and charismatic, they generally are humble, too. And a little restless.  Sounds like a fit, doesn't it?

Thank you for living so fully, so courageously on this Earth, Mr. President. It's an honor to remember you on your birthday.  In the photo here, you look serious; your eyes seem to contain the weight of the world.   But when I close my eyes and see your face, those Irish eyes are smiling.   As they so often did.