Leave It To Beaver Three Days He Would Never Forget

Beaver Cleaver was sitting in Mrs. Rayburn's class one beautiful day. It was November 1962. As the principal, and temporary teacher for history was giving a test on The Civil War, when suddenly an announcement went over the loudspeaker

" Mrs. Rayburn! Come to the office immediately emergency! "

"Okay students, turn over your papers until I get back."

The children sat in silence, then began talking

"I wonder what's the matter? I'm scared!"

A worried Penny Woods asked and began chewing her nails. Then suddenly Mrs. Rayburn's voice went over the loudspeakers.

"Attention teachers and students, take your duck and cover positions immediately! This is NOT A TEST!"

The children done as they were told, some of them were screaming and some of them, boys included were sobbing.

BOOM! A bright light flashed and the classroom shook. All the children sobbed then, then they began standing and saw a horrible thing, a mushroom cloud began forming.

"THE BOMB!"

Gilbert Bates screamed and then all the children rushed out of the school, fortunately they all made it out. But at Wally's High School, some of them weren't that lucky. Wally watched in horror as his best friend Clarence, "Lumpy" Rutherford was crushed by a half of a side of the school. Wally's girlfriend stood and just screamed over and over as the building just collapsed. Mary Ellen just made it out in time, as Lumpy was right behind her. Wally walked her home, still shaking and sobbing.

"Oh Wally! I hope my house is still standing!"

"Mine too, I just hope Mom is safe and Dad is on his way home, Beaver too."

Mary Ellen sighed in happiness as they approached her home, her Mom and Dad and her little sister Francine ran toward her and they all embraced in a hug. Wally then went home. When he arrived he saw his home, It was half there and the garage and part of the upper floor was missing from the impact from the explosion. June came rushing outside and to the boy's surprise, Ward came outside also. Then Beaver came running to the front door.

"MOM! DAD! We were sitting in class and then we had to duck and cover! I was so scared that you'd all be dead or gone, Thank God you're all right!"

When they got inside, the battery operated radio was on Colelrad, a station that was started in the late 1950s. It was telling the people to not eat anything that wasn't refrigerated before the explosion, To not drink any water if they had any, to just use it to flush the toilet. The explosion impacted a town fifty miles away, but they still had buildings falling over one hundred miles away. That they could eat canned food and bottled water if they could get some from the stores.

"WE have some cold cuts in the fridge that are still cold, we'll eat that , you boys can have Coke with your sandwich tonight, I'm scared to give you milk I had it out trying to fix a cake when the explosion happened."

June told the boys. Later on they ate sandwiches and some chips from a new bag that hadn't been opened. Ward wondered if he could cook the beef from the freezer before it became inedible.

"I can start the gas grill and cook some burgers tomorrow, since we can't cook on the stove"

There was no electricity and they were the lucky ones to still have water, but as the man on the radio said, they only used it to flush the toilet. That evening as the boys had to sleep in the part of the house that was still here, in sleeping bags. Beaver said.

"Wally, My stomach is starting to hurt really bad . Is yours?"

"Yeah Beav, but don't tell Mom or Dad It might just be from nervousness."

As they lay in their sleeping bags, they heard June and Ward who were downstairs trying to sleep move around, Then later on, Beaver woke with the worst pain he had ever felt in his whole life, His stomach and head hurt like he had broken glass in his body, He ran to the bathroom and threw up violently, then as soon as he stopped, he had to sit and had diarrhea. Wally was also beginning to throw up. Downstairs Ward and June were doing the same thing, They were both throwing up violently and having diarrhea. Then about ten minutes later blood began coming out of their bottoms, Then Beaver weakly called out

"MOM! Please help me!"

"Mom is very sick son."

Ward replied weakly from the bottom of the stairs. Then Beaver crawled to the room that Wally was in, Wally was just lying there with blood coming from his mouth and nose. He stopped breathing. Beaver got up and weakly went down the stairs. He saw his Dad looking at his Mom, she was just lying on the floor, blood coming from her mouth and nose.

"Son, your mother is dead!"

"NO NO! Please no not my Mom!"

Then Ward fell to the floor.

"OH GOD PLEASE! NOT MY DAD TOO"

Then he felt someone shaking him and his name being called by June.

"Beaver? What's the matter honey?"

Beaver opened his eyes, his face was streaked from tears and sweat was on his forehead and he was shaking violently.

"Mom! Oh Mom! You're okay, This is our room and Dad you're here too! And Wally you're he too!"

Beaver held his mother like a lifeline, he couldn't stop shaking and sobbing, They wound up with Beaver in their bed, June stroking his soaked hair and singing a lullaby he had loved as a baby.

"Rock A Bye baby, on the treetops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock, when the bow breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all"

Then she sang Brahms lullaby, then a song Ward had made up for them as they were tiny babies

" Hey! Here they come with a rum-tee-tum, they're having a toy parade. A tin giraffe with a fife and drum is leading the kewpie parade.

A gingham cat is in a soldiers hat is waving a Chinese fan. A plastic clown in a wedding gown is dancing with Raggedy Ann.

Fee fie fiddle dee dee they're crossing the living room floor. Fee fie fiddle dee dee, they're up to the dining room door.

They called a halt for a choc'late malt or cookies and lemonade. Then off they go with a ho ho ho right back to their toy brigade"

Finally the twelve year old boy fell asleep in his parents arms like a baby. He would never forget this nightmare for his whole life. The next morning, after June cooked pancakes and bacon , Beavers favorite breakfast food, he went upstairs, brushed his teeth and gathered his books and walked to school. When he got there, he walked toward the third grade classroom.

Miss Landers, his favorite teacher, whom he was lucky to have had from the third to the fifth grade was sitting in her classroom gathering her papers to teach her class who were about to arrive ten minutes later.

"Hi Miss Landers!"

Miss Sue Landers, twenty nine with her brown hair and brown eyes smiled at Beaver as he came into the room.

"Why Theodore Cleaver! I am so glad you came to see me! I love it when my former students come to visit me."

Beaver smiled back and replied.

"Hi ! I really wish that you would call me Beaver now, all my friends call me that. I just wanted to see you again. It's been two whole years you know."

The two of them chatted warmly until it was time for him to go to class. Beaver then walked toward the seventh grade hallway and sat in Mr. Harmon's English classroom. After the other children and the teacher walked in, he told the class.

"Students, today we're going to do something special, as you know, we have a very important man that's in the White House now, a few weeks ago, he stopped a very bad thing from happening to the entire planet, not just here. So we're going to write to our president, Mister John Fitzgerald Kennedy."

With pen in hand and a piece of notebook paper, Beaver wrote the president a very special letter.

Dear Mister President;

My name is Theodore James Cleaver and I am twelve years old. I am in the seventh grade at Grant Avenue Grammar school in Mayfield California.

I would really like you to please sign an agreement with Mister Khrushchev from Russia!

I had a nightmare that made me cry like a baby and I had to get in bed with my parents. I know that you don't want your two children Caroline and John Jr. to have to live in fear and to have to duck and cover in school when they begin school.

So please Mister President, please sign a peace agreement with the president of Russia! I don't want to live in a world of fear for the rest of my life and neither does anyone in my school.

Your's very respectfully

Master Theodore James Cleaver;

After class, Mr. Harmon asked him to stay a minute,

"Theodore, I just read your letter to the president, I thought it was a very well thought letter. I'm going to mail all the letters to the white house tonight and I hope that he might reply to some of the letters. Out of all the students in this class. I hope he reads yours. You may leave now Theodore."

Beaver smiled and walked out of the class, Richard asked him why he had to stay over, Beaver replied to him that he was mailing the letters to the white house tonight. Richard smiled and they walked to Mrs. Rayburn's history class together. Three weeks later, it was four days to Christmas Day and the children were celebrating their last day in school with parties. As they were listening to records and eating cake, ice cream and chips in Mr. Harmon's room a knock sounded at the door. Mr. Harmon asked Beaver.

"Theodore, could you please answer the door please?"

Beaver opened the door and gave a gasp of surprise, his eyes couldn't believe who was standing at the door. It was President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was a very nice looking man. His hair was sandy brown and his eyes were light blue. He was wearing a suit and tie and smelled of English Leather Cologne. He was surrounded by four men, his secret service men. Beaver spoke shakily

"Oh Mister President! C- Come in sir!"

He smiled a million dollar smile and shook Beavers hand. Some of the girls were sobbing openly and the boys were staring disbelievingly. He spoke to them all

"Good Afternoon children! Just call me sir, or no you can call me what all my friends and wife calls me, Jack."

He was introduced to Beaver.

"Oh yes! You're the young man that wrote that very moving letter to me. I really enjoyed it. I made a copy in Russian and sent it to Mr. Khrushchev, he wrote me back and thought the letter also very moving, he has grandchildren and doesn't want them to live in a world where they will be frightened to sleep at night either. In January, he's coming over here again to sign a no nukes pact. So thanks to your letter, you won't have to worry about having nightmares about the bomb. I promise."

Then he spoke almost in a whisper to Beaver.

"And Theodore, there is nothing wrong with crying when you're frightened, I myself do this when I'm worried or even when I see my two precious children Caroline and John Jr. at play."

He then shook Beavers hand again and then spoke to every child in the class and chatted a few minutes with Mr. Harmon. Then he had to leave again for Washington DC. After the door shut, Mr. Harmon told the classroom of the still surprised children.

"Well class, I know for a fact that I will never forget this day for the rest of my life and I'm positive that neither will yourselves. Now I was told that the president was going to come here in a civilian car so please don't tell anyone about this surprise all alright?"

"Yes Mr. Harmon" The children replied

Now they still talked among themselves about this surprise, but never in the present of anyone that wasn't in the room. And eleven months later. They were sitting in their eighth grade English Language class. It was a beautiful Friday morning. Eleven -Fifty-One and their teacher, Mrs. White was giving them a spelling test.

"Children I have a very sad and important announcement to give you."

It was Mrs. Rayburn she sounded like she was crying.

"Your parents are arriving to pick up all the students that don't walk because we are being dismissed now. I am very sorry to inform you that our beloved president, Mr. John F Kennedy was riding in a motorcade in Dallas Texas about thirty minutes ago and a man shot him. Right now, there is no word on the presidents condition."

Then the entire class burst into tears, including the boys. Beaver walked home with Penny Woods who cried all the way to her house, he walked her to her door and she went inside. Beaver then walked to his street and went inside, just to see June, sitting on the sofa crying. Wally stood there just staring at the television and Ward then walked in the door.

"He's dead!"

A devastated June told the shocked Beaver and Ward. Three days later, after the horrible assassination of their president then the killing of the man they believed shot him on Sunday, Beaver then told his parents and Wally about the special visit John Fitzgerald Kennedy made to the English class last December. Beaver would tell his sons about those three days he would never forget. His nightmare, their beloved president visiting his classroom and then the assassination of this wonderful man.

"He was a very handsome man boys. His hair was a sandy brown and his eyes were blue, just like his daughter Caroline's she was only five-years-old when he died, his son John Jr. was only two, going on three. He had to go to his Dads funeral on his birthday and Caroline celebrated hers only two days later.."