President’s Day
Today is the day many Americans set aside to think about two of our most beloved and influential Presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Both men had a huge part in shaping our country and putting their own lives on the line to fight and defend what they believed was crucial to the survival of our nation.
Last November John and I went to Washington D.C.
It was amazing, exhilarating, and humbling. I found myself in a constant state of AWE. We could have stayed another month and not seen everything.
We saw the WWII Memorial, the Korean Memorial, Washington monument and Lincoln’s Memorial. Plus, The Declaration of Independence, congressional building.
The day we left we were able to go to the Library of Congress and look for information on a distant relative of mine. Her name was Sarah Bush and amazingly enough they had a small booklet in the rare book collection that we were able to read while seated at a long mahogany table. 
Sarah was widowed at a fairly young age and left with three young children and no means by which to raise them. A family friend who was a few years older also found himself widowed with two young children, a 12 year old girl and 10 year old boy. When he found out that Sarah was without a husband, he courted and ended up marrying her and bringing her and her children to the small dirt floor cabin. Sarah didn’t know how to read or write, but she saw the value in being educated and when her stepson proved to be a quick learner she encouraged him in his studies. The values and tenderness that she passed on to her children and her stepchildren helped to shape them into who they would become.
What a legacy. One woman doing what she knew how to do best…be a mom.
Abraham Lincoln said this of step-mother Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln…”Everything I am I owe to my angel mother.”
Ever wonder if the role of motherhood is important?
“In the end, it is not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
Abraham Lincoln
