Freedom!

For history enthusiasts, this July has been a whirlwind of joy. I started to use the word "overload," but that may not be the case for people like me, people who absorb any fact or picture or emotion that comes with a look into the past.

Then again, my trip through the Freedom Truck yesterday might have set off so many emotions and realizations that I could define it in a positive way, a joyful overload. 

Who would have imagined two hundred fifty years of history packed into one semi's trailer! This display arrived here in town this past Monday and was open to the public through Wednesday. The public came, I'm pleased to report. Over three hundred went through the pouring rain to visit on the first day, and when my husband and I went through on Tuesday afternoon, there had already been over five hundred. Jokingly saying, we were in the midst of half of them at that one time, it was that crowded. 

Someone on Facebook commented that it was too crowded...and it was, but how wonderful. I saw children with their parents. I saw grandparents explaining history to little ones in their care. I saw summer daycare groups with older elementary students. These children were engaged. All of them, down to the preschoolers who saw the exhibits from a mere three-foot-high perspective. I had to get down low as well to sign the Declaration of Independence. Yes, my John Hancock was there, for a brief moment. But it was there!

Another complaint this same negative person wrote on Facebook was that all of this was AI created and had information they already knew. Who cares! It reminded us! It educated us! It showed us who we once were and, therefore, what we can become.

Sure, it was full of colorful gimmick displays, complete with an animated George Washington greeting us as we stepped inside. Of course, it left out a lot, but it gave a basic look into our nation's history. I could have spent hours there, but I would have taken up needed space for the flow of traffic behind me. 

I saw examples of bits and pieces of history connected to my writing career. On the Hero wall, I found a few to mention. My first venture into official authordom (not a word, but more my creation to clarify the kingdom of being a published author) was an article about Jackie Robinson, "Finding Forty-two" published in Highlights for Children. It has been picked up by other presses, like this one in CommonLit, with activities designed for fifth graders.

On the same wall under "Innovators" was Thomas Edison, a "character" in my memoir about the Great Donora Fog. And there he was, right next to Albert Einstein. 

One thing I've not talked about in my blog or on my webpage is the volume of material I have written that has not yet been published or was published under someone else's name, with me more as a ghost writer. I saw snippets of those on the walls, too. Like this saying that was in the book, Reflections, that I helped Senator Donald Kincaid independently publish. He quoted Benjamin Franklin and I even used it as a title in my blog about the book. Check it out, as it's super important to this blog. 

I've thought about that quote a lot in the past few years as the United States struggles to keep our republic. Freedom trucks like this going from town to town will certainly enlighten or engage citizens to work hard to keep it.

Another book I didn't write at all, but worked with the author, is not published as yet (coming soon, so I'll tell more then). There was only one paragraph about the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the entire book, but I had to research to make sure that one paragraph was correct. This display affirmed my findings. 

And finally, this story. When I first began taking my writing career to the serious stage, I was still teaching fourth grade. One afternoon, my students were sitting on the floor in the auditorium listening to a presentation by a folk musician. They had sung the first stanza to "She'll be coming 'round the mountain," when he stopped playing, leaned over his guitar, and asked them a question. "Who was she?" I knew by their responses when he told them who she was that I wanted to write that story. It's a wonderful story, but it just hasn't come together yet. His version of who she was included a character from history whose picture hung on the same wall as Thomas Edison and Jackie Robinson: P.T. Barnum. And what a story his is!

America250 is not yet over. The celebration has just begun because the Declaration of Independence set off the revolution that followed. We'll recognize each battle through the next few years leading up to the founding of our great nation. One thing to remember, though, as Benjamin Franklin in his wisdom and wit said, "It's a republic if you can keep it."  

Catch of the day,

Gretchen