The New John F. Kennedy Mural In Lafayette

This new Kennedy mural is amazing. The artist Zach Curtis did an amazing job rendering a President that I have seen so many photos of. As a kid my father told me all about Kennedy, and over the years I have read a lot about him. I have written research papers about him and his death. He was a central figure in my life growing up, and his portrait that my father had drawn was always hung in our house. It is kind of neat to think that every time that I go downtown now I can see a portrait of John. I also chose this photo for the post because the mural was still unfinished. John was taken early on so I thought that it kid of mirrored his life.

The Day That Everything Changed

It is almost fate that this mural was put up this month. My father loved John F. Kennedy. He had many sketches of Kennedy that he had done when he was younger. One year ago today everything changed. We had just come in from a successful Halloween. I was winding down before bed when the phone rang. My father had passed. It was not an easy drive up to LaPorte that night. The next week was full of hard times as well. The past year has had its moments. I have wanted to pick up the phone to talk to him so many times. Dad loved Kennedy because Kennedy was a devout Catholic like he was. The Pope that was elected after he passed was from Chicago and more importantly a Sox fan! He would have loved that. The Pope also loves Aurelios pizza and has had some given to him during his travels. The White Sox have a glimmer of hope. When they made some coaching changes my first thought was to text him to see what he thought about them. Life is a little different without him around. I realize that I am super greedy wishing for more time with him. He lived to be 80. I had 47 years with him. Man, what I wouldn’t do for just one more hour and one more game of catch. Today is a day about the kids. I can’t let me emotions get the better of me tonight. With that being said I may or may not have listened to this song today and it destroyed me. It is a great song about what a father can mean to you.