Lincoln and a Hug

June 23

We left Princeton Illinois with delicious chicken sandwiches made by Bill and Margery and a tour of the local 57 theater company. Bill took us to see their building which will open this weekend. They are renovating a building and putting up a season. It was familiar to walk through the newly painted halls and look at their sprinkler, not yet hooked up. We know the feeling from Transparent Theater days. What a beautiful journey they are on!

We arrived in Springfield, IL, to visit the home of Abraham Lincoln in his adult life and the new Abraham Lincoln Museum. Tom has been there before... after all, Lincoln is why Tom went to Law School. Lincoln is a spiritual leader for Tom and a superhero to our children. Really. They have a Lincoln doll (given to Tom by Deanna and stolen by George and Cole) and a Shakespeare doll and they are in the superhero doll drawer and part of the pantheon.

Lincoln was not a child in Springfield. This trip... this book... which I reference... is a trip to all of the childhood homes of the US Presidents. Springfield does not fall into that category, but it was an important side trip.

We toured Lincoln's home. I was moved by the history of the people coming to this home after his assasination and Mary and the family opening the house up to anyone who may come to mourn and remember. Robert Lincoln (their oldest son) asked that it remain free to visitors and it is. The kids were wild, but sweet. "Harmony through Contrast," which was the decorating mantra of the day, filled the home. I liked the black furniture among all of the patterns. It was weird and interesting. Tom told us more than the tour guide. Lincoln liked to read upside down with his legs on the front stairs. He was too long to fit comfortably into chairs. His boys bounced around him... similar to how Tom's boys bounce around him.

Here are Cole and George discussing birds and their colors, but they could be discussing the future of the world:

Cole and George begged for a blue Union soldier and a black Lincoln top hat. At one point I had all three of them in the bathroom changing diapers and going to the potty. They screamed in the echoing bathroom and ducked under the stalls staring at women in bonnets and prairie dresses from an orphanage. The women, unaccustomed to such intrusions, were not amused. Adeline sang constantly. "Twinkle, Twinkle." "ABCs" etc... At least one women commented that she was cute.

The new museum was amazing. The wax figures could have been hokey, but were so true-to-life that Cole went up and stared at them for a long time. Eventually, he threw his arms around Tad Lincoln, the youngest boy, and hugged him. The guards moved towards us as I pulled Cole off, but how sweet...

Cole looking at Willie:

Just after the hug...

The exhibits were artistic and inspiring and moving. George wanted to go back to the room where Willie was dying in bed and Lincoln stood in the doorway, anguish etched on his face, holding his son's doll, as a fancy party raged downstairs in the White House. Cole was stuck in the scene of the Ford Theater where the "bad guy" Booth appeared and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Adeline put her chin on the stage of the scene (in New Orleans) where Lincoln, having floated a flatboat down the Mississippi, first saw a slave family being sold and seperated. I took a photo of it and got reprimanded.

In the play area, Cole became Frederick Douglass and George, Lincoln.  Tom told me that after Lincoln's Second Inaugural (you know the one, "With malice towards none, with charity for all..."), Lincoln told Douglass that his opinion of the speech mattered more than any other.  Which indicates how far Lincoln had come to see into the future of this country, the mutual respect and even equality that would be possible someday between the races.

We missed the movie on the study and progression of Lincoln's eyes in photographs, which Tom had so wanted to see (and was right up his ally). It's an excuse to go back.

We rushed to the State House, to see the stairs that join and "fly." Stunning architecture.

We took a chance on a random State Park for a campsite. It was perfect nearly. We wound up on an island off of the highway with deer roaming and noise. It was beautiful and isolated. The kids played in their hats. And we sat down for some cowboy fry-up George Clyde style. Everyone complained and then ate it all up! Hooray!

Hot and sweaty we all went to sleep.

Comments

[Babu]

What fun! Can just see Cole hugging Tad. George in his hat Adeline being tired! Bathroom scene seems normal. Glad you get some rest at camp while kids can run around and make noise. Hugs to all.

[Babu]

Thank you for adding pictures. Love them. Made me go back through all the entries to see the pictures. They are great.Miss you all. Love and hugs from SC