JFK Inaugural Address-50 Years Gone By

For myself, I was not yet born when President Kennedy took office, and only a baby when he died, but I can recall knowing who he was all my life and I remember meeting Robert Kennedy when I was barely 5 years old. This family's contribution to our Nation will long be researched and debated, past even my time on earth, but I have always believed that we owe them a great debt. President Kennedy's words are as relevant today as they were all those years ago.

I was given the great honor of writing a poem for the Hyannis Area Chamaber of Commerce that was donated and now hangs in the JFK Hyannis Museum. It was hand-written by Rick Paulus, Former Chief White House Calligrapher.

Echoes

The seashell you once held,

Which brought pleasure to your eye,

Is now but grains of sand that pass

Through our fingers, just like Time.

And the beach roses have withered

And bloomed many times,

Since you walked along the shore

To ease your weary mind.

Yet, the wind and waves still echo

With memories your heart did hold,

Those that called to a father, a brother, a son-

Come home, come home, come home.



Now, Caroline’s children have played

And frolicked in that sand,

And picked seashells they have found,

To hold like treasures in their hands.

And your footsteps that the waves

Have washed far out to sea

Will mingle with countless others

That have not yet come to be.

Yet, the wind and waves still echo

With memories our hearts all hold,

Those that call to a father, a brother, a son-

Come home, come home, come home.

Melinda Lancaster