Vicki pointed out that today was also Abraham Lincoln's birthday and that he surely deserves at least a mention. Born on the same day and the same year, their contributions to history were significant and significantly different. I can identify with Abraham Lincoln. His family was poor and so was mine and so am I. It seems that he was destined to be president and I guess the parallel ends there. I am sure I was destined for something and until I discover what, I will continue to blog. His wife Mary Todd told her friends that "Mr. Lincoln is to be president of the United States. If I had not thought so, I would not have married him, for you can see he is not pretty." Gloria could have said the same about me except for the president part.

Some speculate that Lincoln might have been bi-polar. He definitely struggled with depression. "I never dare carry a penknife" as a caution against suicide.

Schweikart and Allen in their History write that "Lincoln was homely, but Mary Todd was downright sour looking, which perhaps eontributed to his having left her, literally, standing at the altar one time." Lincoln claimed that he was sick, but was it lovesickness or just sick?

Lincoln's religious faith or lack of it has garnered the attention of historians and not all agree. Some accused him of being a skeptic while others believed him to be a deist. However, not long before his death he was asked by a minister "do you love Jesus". His answer was revealing:

"When I left Springfield I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I love Jesus."

We are the greater people for having been blessed with an Abraham Lincoln.