kaleidoscoping chaos...: Loving us some Lincoln...

Driving around lately I have noticed (many times) this sign on Georgia Ave for Lincoln's Cottage. I was intrigued. We have a little thing for Lincoln over here. He is our favorite President.

So I "googled" it. Turns out that during the Civil War, President Lincoln and his family resided there from June to November of 1862, 1863, and 1864. That is quite a good chunk of time for the President to be out of the White House. The White House is only 3 miles away, but still he chose to stay at his cottage among the servicemen (see more about it here). The National Trust for Historic Preservation restored the "cottage" - it is a small mansion really. You can only tour it by reservation. I figured the tour was out - it is only recommended for children 6 and older. But there is a Visitor's Center, a cool statue of Lincoln and his horse and you can walk around the property. The house is also located on the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) campus (see more info here). The "campus" is under some construction but there are a number of amazingly beautiful homes and the whole place is very interesting - plus I knew nothing about it or Lincoln's cottage - and I kinda like learning about new stuff!

I decided we would visit today. After camp, but before the pool. A little stop off. Jonah received a box of Lincoln Logs this weekend as a birthday gift, so we had been talking about Lincoln & he has been recently obsessed with horses and statues (Mt. Vernon's horse statues, Buzz Lightyear's buddy Woody has a horse). We were off.

It was GORGEOUS out today! We walked through the very small museum with a few "hands-on" things for Jonah & Vera. We walked into the tiny gift shop very quickly and did not buy anything at all - although Jonah did notice the Lincoln Logs and point them out to me numerous times in the 5 seconds we were in there asking where the potty was... It did look like a cool gift shop though - mental note to self...

The fun part was outside. The kids loved the statue and walking around the house and then finding the canons. It was just fun. Short little adventure but totally fun and will be even better when they are just a little bit older.

But what about Lincoln.

We (and I) have history with Lincoln.

My history started years ago. I found my place in high school because of Mr. Lincoln (and a slight crush I had on a kid who sat in the front row of my advanced English class in 10th grade). He was a debater. So I joined debate club. As it happens, I was an excellent debater. I did "Lincoln - Douglas" debating. I was good. I won a ton of tournaments and championships. And yes, I even got the guy! Debate made my high school experience happen. It gave me confidence and I excelled. I hope my kids find something they are good at, that makes them feel good about themselves, and that is good for them. It makes a world of difference in your ability to enjoy stuff and be happy. Don't get me wrong - I still had a traumatic/dramatic high school experience of sorts. There were breakups with the guy, falling outs with friends - the usual high school stuff. But debate made me feel good and I am pretty sure that much of what I learned and developed (skill wise) in debate club helped me later on in college, law school and being a lawyer.

Fast forward about 25 years later, I mentioned a number of times that we "lived" in Chicagoland for 6 mos (from July 2010 - Dec 2010). Jocelyn had an opportunity for work, so we all went. This was pre-Vera. But it was a big part of why we have Vera.

First off, we had an amazing time in Chicagoland. Lincoln became a little bit of our theme... you know how I love themes (and Lincoln was the very cool Senator from Illinois before he was the super cool President). So much so, that I coined a little phrase for us, "Living & Loving in the Land of Lincoln" - and yep, don't wince... but I got these T-shirts made with the phrase and with a picture of Lincoln. My family came out to visit us in September 2010 for Rosh Hashannah and we had these totally cheesy family portraits done - and we all wore the shirts... IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Then over Labor Day, our best friend came out to visit and we took a road trip to Springfield, IL - Lincoln's home and the capitol of Illinois. We had the most fabulous time on that trip. It is funny, but Jonah was about the same age that Vera is now... that is crazy to me! He was walking and starting to talk but communciating... just like she is now. We visited Lincoln's home, the train station from where he went to Washington, DC, the capitol building, the cemetary, and his law offices. On the road trip down, we even went off road to the old Route 66 to find the largest statue of Lincoln sitting on a covered wagon outside a Best Western... because that is how we roll!!!

Before we left Chicagoland in December 2010, we finalized the adoption papers with an agency in Chicago. We had met with them and decided that they were a good fit for us. And seriously, somehow I just knew that we were supposed to go with that agency - it felt right. We had gone to Chicagoland for a reason. For Jocelyn's job, yes, but also for this.

We came back from our stay in the Land of Lincoln on New Year's Eve - Dec 31, 2010. In Feb 2011, we celebrated Lincoln's birthday with Jonah and built a log cabin out of pretzel rods. Days later, I found out that I had cancer and on March 30, 2011, Vera was born. On April 3, 2011, we flew back to the Land of Lincoln to pick her up - Living & Loving in the Land of Lincoln - ABSOLUTELY!

A year later, we celebrated Lincoln's birthday with Jonah & Vera. We gave Jonah the set of original Lincoln Logs we bought for him in Springfield, so many months (and experiences) ago. Marking time and life, it is quite wondeful sometimes.

This weekend he got another set of Lincoln logs. Vera, Jonah & I built the little house together and I said to myself - this week we visit Lincoln's cottage.

So we did.

Life is good sometimes. Life is really hard some times. There are people, places and experiences that shape our lives and how we are able to get through the bad times and relish the good times. President Lincoln was an amazing President and from the little that I know, he was intense, often depressed, extremely intelligent and exceptionally analytical. He also suffered tremendous personal tragedy in his life, and ultimately in his very untimely but public death. I think the ideas of President Lincoln are what are so poignant to me. I often read "quotes" - famous quotes. He has numerous ones that are really good. The ideas behind them - one being that we are all equal and deserve to be treated as such - that is a big one for me.

I am white mom of two black children. I am mom of children who have two moms. I am Jewish mom of Jewish kids. I am a mom who is a woman.

In each of these sentences, the idea that we should all be equal and treated with respect no matter what label society has put on us, is totally critical. That is the world I want to live in. That is the world I want my kids to live in. Next week, it is July 4th and like I said recently, I seem to be a tad bit emotional these days. But really, it is time for this to be true.

I try to teach my kids this every day.

I hope others try to teach their kids the same too.

We need to teach by doing.

The national and international news of today and yesterday suggests that not enough people are teaching or doing this (I can't bring myself to link to the stories that illustrate what I am saying, but just go to CNN, NY TIMES and you will find them). That makes me sad.

I took my kids to see Lincoln standing next to his horse at his cottage today. And we talked about it all day. Then we built a house out of Lincoln Logs.

Before they went to bed, we read the book, One by Kathryn Otashi. It is one of our favorite books. It is all about how everyone counts, and we should stand up for each other if some one tries to pick on someone. Jonah knows it by heart and yells, NO, at the part when the characters yell NO and stand up for the friend.

That makes me happy.

I think President Lincoln would have liked the book.