Happy birthday, Mr. President.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

John F. Kennedy was born 100 years ago today. If the National Enquirer is to be believed, the occasion is being quietly celebrated at a secret clinic in Switzerland.

Two of these came up right away. I'll figure out later which one is the better of the two.

[DFW]

1. For my 11th birthday, my Dad got me something very special

Pierre Salinger, JFK's press secretary, was a friend and near-neighbor of ours in northern Virginia during the JFK presidency. My dad got him to have JFK autograph a photo of JFK with the inscription "To (DFW), with best wishes, John Kennedy." I still have that photo, in the same frame it was in when I got it in March, 1963, staring at me as I write this.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Wow, my dear DFW, what an incredible gift!

How lucky you were, and still are.

And you deserve this special gift.

[DFW]

4. I'm not so sure I deserved it at age eleven

But JFK never survived until my next birthday, so we'll never find out. My dad deserved some kudos for thinking of this. He wanted to give me "something unique," and he certainly did that to an extent he never could have dreamed of.

Now that she's gone, I wish more than ever that I had pumped Helen Thomas for more JFK stories, as she had hundreds of them.

[FrankfurtCat]

3. Wow...

...that is so wonderful! I would cherish that, as you obviously do, DFW!

[Boomerproud]

5. Wow DFW, no one on DU has the stories to tell that you do.

I am always inspired and entertained by your posts.

[DFW]

6. We all have our stories to tell

My dad was a prominent Washington print journalist for 50 years, so, sure I got to meet a bunch of people, and when I was invited to join Renaissance Weekend, I met a bunch more. It's sort of like when you toss a pebble into a pond. There are ripples. And so when I got a couple of pebbles tossed into my pool, I rode the ripples.

But don't forget, you get to hear special stories that stand out. Most mornings, I get up after too little sleep, just like most other people, go out into the world for my day job, and crash too late at night to be healthy. So, yeah, I grab the perks when I can. I've stared the Grim Reaper in the face twice, told him to fuck off twice, and twice he did just that. No one is offering me a guarantee it'll happen the next time, so if I get a chance to go somewhere cool, meet someone cool, or do something cool, I do it, because I could just as easily drop dead tomorrow. If it comes to that, I want it to happen with as few regrets as possible.

In the meantime, hey, if a few people are "inspired" and "entertained" along the way, hey, well, good for us!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. "'Finalize' was not the kind of word the President should be using in a news conference."

"'Finalize' was not the kind of word the President of the United States should be using in a news conference." #JFK

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