John Carey, MD, weary after a long day at the hospital, opened the front door and stepped into his home. His dog Rufus, as usual, charged across the living room to greet him, followed shortly thereafter by his son, Little Johnny.
"I'm home, dear," he called out, removing his hat and placing it on the hat rack as he tried, somewhat futilely, to keep Rufus' paws off his jacket. The dog never failed to provide his canine greeting services. Little Johnny, eight years old, avoided Rufus' vigorously wagging tail and wrapped himself around his father's waist.
"Settle down you two, you'll knock me down," John chided gently. Johnny stepped back from his father, raised his head and gave him a serious look.
"Pop, I have a question for you," he began, then paused, waiting for a response. John, inwardly amused at his son's business-like demeanor, nodded and Johnny added, "Mom said I could listen to the radio with you, until dinner's ready, if that's okay."
John smiled and said, "Sure, we can listen to the radio a bit. I heard the President was going to address Congress about pushing through some of the New Deal. I'd like to see how that went."
John walked over to the radio and turned it on. Once it had warmed up, he gently rotated the dial, searching through the static for the news report.
"...news bulletin out of Washington. President Roosevelt was shot this afternoon while on his way to the Capitol Building..." came out of the speaker, then a wash of static. John, stunned, blurted out a swear-word and saw his son's eyes widen.
"Sorry, Johnny," he said, frowning, as he turned the dial, hoping to catch the rest of the report.
"...Nance... was sworn-in just after five this afternoon, Washington time. A national day of mourning will be observed tomorrow and Mrs. Roosevelt released a statement saying that her husband's body would...." more static wiped out the rest of the statement.
John sat down in stunned disbelief. FDR dead? How could this have happened?
His wife Martha came out of the kitchen with a smile, which died on her face as she saw her husband's stunned look.
"John? What is it?" she cried, her voice cracking. Little Johnny sat next to his father and began to cry - he didn't understand what was going on, only that his parents were both upset - while the radio continued to spew static.
