Happy 203rd birthday, President Lincoln

During the Civil War Sesquicentennial years, you won't find me blogging about Abraham Lincoln as much. I'm not a student of military history and many others scholars and bloggers who are much more knowledgeable are writing about this aspect of Lincoln's life. My area of interest and knowledge is Lincoln's early years, his time in Illinois, and Lincoln in literature.

So, currently, I'm devoting much of my writing time to my blog, "Musings on Route 66." When those musings bring me back to Lincoln, I'll post them here, as well. Today is one of those days. As I celebrate Lincoln's birthday in Springfield with many others who share my passion, may you take time to remember him too.

The following post is from "Musings on Route 66," where I also share musings on other things that interest or tug at me.

Since I was a small child, I’ve been smitten with Abraham Lincoln.

Why? A combination of things, probably – things like parents who told me stories of the 16^th President and took me to visit Lincoln sites, books that kept Lincoln lore alive, school trips, and living in Illinois, where his aura is so strong. Chances are many of you came to admire him by similar paths.

But I like to think there was one more force even stronger in my Lincoln journey. I was born in a hospital about a block from Old Main at Knox College where a Lincoln-Douglas debate was held in 1858. I have my suspicions that almost 100 years later, there was a bit of “Lincoln dust” still in the air and it blew in the nursery window, landed on my shoulder and left me intrigued with the railsplitter for life.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Because of this love for Lincoln, or what many call my “obsession,” I started a blog, Lincoln Buff 2, during the Lincoln Bicentennial year.

In celebration of Lincoln’s 203^rd birthday, I dug back into the archives for the blog post I wrote just after midnight on Lincoln’s 200^th birthday. I spent that week in Springfield and savored all the excitement. Come along. Relive the adventure with me.

From Feb. 12, 2009: "Happy 200th birthday, President Lincoln!

"Here in the Land of Lincoln, the clock just struck midnight. The big day we've looked forward to and planned for is here. It's time to wish Abraham Lincoln a happy 200th birthday.

“As I type this, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is hosting an all-night vigil for Lincoln. In conjunction with the vigil, original copies of the Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment are on display.

“Until after 11 p.m., the line to view the documents wound through the lobby, down the hall, into an exhibit holding area and around the museum plaza. It reminded me of a visitation I once attended for a well-loved school teacher who died much too young. As in that case, the people coming today were there to pay their respects to someone whose life made a difference.”

Feb. 12, 2012: Those same three documents are on display again this year, and the 13^th amendment is all spruced up, just waiting for your visit.

The celebrations may not be as elaborate and as many this year as during the bicentennial year, but chances are that wherever you are, there are Lincoln birthday events nearby. A great place to keep up with Lincoln happenings year-round is the Abraham Lincoln Online website.

And don’t forget to watch The State Journal-Register’s Abraham Lincoln Observer blog where Mike Kienzler spreads the word about the latest, greatest and sometimes even not-so-great goings-on in the Lincoln world.

Again today, I’ll use the words I used in 2009. I mean them as much now as I did when I wrote them three years ago:

“Please join in a celebration of Lincoln's big day. If you can't, at least take a few minutes to stop and reflect on how the life of one individual can change the course of history. Lincoln mattered then and he still matters today. Remember the life he lived and emulate the values he espoused – hard work, honesty and lifelong learning.”

© Ann Tracy Mueller 2012

(Image via)

A new year, a new blog

Whew! That was a year - 2011 was.

I retired from one job, started another, finished renovations on a home, kept it in tip-top shape while anticipating potential buyers dropping in with little notice, and welcomed a new grandchild to the fold.

I thought I'd blog here a little.

Wrong!

Still loving the new job

I absolutely, positively LOVE my new job as co-editor of Ragan Communications' Health Care Communication News, but it took me a bit of time to get in the groove. Working from home has a gazillion advantages. (Gee, I should write a blog post on them someday.)

But it also has one drawback. You tend to just keep working. There's no "If you don't leave by such-and-such-a-time, the lights go out." There's no one locking the door. So, if you love what you're doing, you just keep doing it. I did (love it). I also often did keep working.

And that, perhaps, is another reason why I neglected Lincoln Buff 2 blog. I guess you could say I felt unworthy to write about Lincoln once the Civil War Sesquicentennial and the sesquicentennial of the White House years started. My areas of knowledge, passion and expertise are Lincoln's early years, his time in Illinois, the allure and inspiration of the popular Lincoln. Those things were easy to share during the Bicentennial years. I loved finding and sharing information about events and books so that I could inspire others to learn about Lincoln.

Here's the funny thing. I do essentially the same thing as a health care co-editor as I did during the Bicentennial. I find information people need, I write articles about it, I share. It's just what I loved when I was doing this blog every day. In a way, it's another reason why this blog is in a resting period. Research takes time. Doing it for two efforts? Takes more effort than I can give, I think. The job took priority and this blog lay dormant.

What I miss

I don't feel badly about not writing about aspects of Lincoln that I don't fully understand. That wouldn't be fair to my readers. I do feel badly about letting down the readers who enjoyed my Lincoln-related posts and who may have been inspired to learn a little more about him because of my enthusiasm.

And, I miss my readers. Some of them have become such wonderful friends and mentors over the past three years.

So, I'm back. I'm not laying Lincoln Buff 2 to rest. It's still my first blog, the one that helped me remember how much I love to write, that connected me with wonderful Lincoln enthusiasts worldwide and even helped create a few new ones. It will still be here for you to read, and I'll still do a post once in a blue moon, but I'd love it if you'd come follow me to my new blog.

Where you can find me

I just gave birth to my new blog yesterday. It's where I'll share my thoughts on all sorts of other things in my life. (Bet you didn't know that I do think about things besides Lincoln.)

I do have other passions. In the coming weeks I'll share some of them on the new blog.

I've envisioned a venue such as this for more than a dozen years -- a place where I could share the things I ponder, the things I write that are not Lincoln- or health care-related. And, believe me, these wheels are always ticking and, many days, these fingers are the conduit through which 1,000 words or more pour onto a page. Many go toward book manuscripts, some go into personal correspondence and some are just begging to be shared.

Those beggers -- you'll find them in my new blog, Musings on Route 66.

Come along for the ride.

Oh, and that house? It's still on the market. That new grandbaby? She still likes to be rocked. Her cousins? They like to go fishing or play board games with Grandma from time to time, too, so please forgive me if, once in a while, I step away from the keyboard to just be.

For it's in being that we often find fodder for musings. Isn't it a wonderful thing?

Lincoln Buff 2 writes anew

I'm ba-a-a-a-ck!

I started Lincoln Buff 2 in October 2008 as my contribution to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial. For more than a year, I wrote of Lincoln events, books, sites, and more. I travelled central Illinois, and later went to both the east and west coasts visiting places with Lincoln connections. I met most of the leading Lincoln scholars and many enthusiasts. I built friendships and mentoring relationships I'll always cherish. I went to two events where President Obama was speaking, and even met Stedman Graham at one of them. (No, still haven't met Oprah, darn it!)

A funny thing happened on the way to the bicentennial. I wrote more and more and fell even deeper in love with words and how they play together on a page. I also fell deeply and passionately in love with social media. Long after I'd run out of energy to write daily blog posts, I seemed to find abundant energy for Twitter. I've stumbled across people around the world to follow, or to follow me. I've even found a couple unlikely mentors who have propelled me to pursue my dreams.

Dreams do come true

One of those dreams was to write a book. My first manuscript, in which Lincoln plays a very strong part, is now with a publisher. When I get good news on that, I'll share it here. Lincoln hasn't come knocking at the door of the second book (still a work in progress) yet, and very likely won't. It's now longer than Richard Bach's 10,000 word "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" -- and growing every day.

Another of my dreams, which includes a relocation to a home on a lake in Missouri, was to find a career with the portability to make that move when the time comes -- and, most importantly, doing something I love. I love writing. I love social media. I love companies with a vision in which I believe.

New moniker - Co-editor

On April 1, I began that career. I am co-editor of Health Care Communication News, a Ragan Communications website to provide health care communicators with information they can use to be better communicators.

On Friday, May 13, we unveiled our new website. I'd love it if you'd drop in for a visit. Believe me, even non-health care communicators, even non-communicators, will find stories they'll enjoy. We publish daily, we do a ton of stories, and we enjoy writing them. We select the images to accompany them, and we try to make that fun, too.

You can still read my words

So, if you started reading my blog because you loved Lincoln, but you kind of liked my words, too, and how I had fun playing with them, drop by our health care communication website, read a story or two, and if you like them, leave a comment, please. We love comments.

You can also still follow me on Twitter as:

• @LincolnBuff2, tweeting about a wide variety of things, often things to uplift, inspire, or inform, or


• @RaganHealth, tweeting links to stories on all of our Ragan websites, kibitzing with health care communicators, and retweeting links I think our readers will enjoy.

Just to get you started, here are some of the health care stories I most enjoyed writing these past six weeks. I think you'll like some of them, too.

• Blogging frontier health care practitioners connect with their founder


• Remember the invisible man? He’s interactive and online!


• 300-pound blogger inspired by most ripped Congressman


• Ragan.com by remote: The power is out, but the news is on


• Do you have social media stress disorder?


• 5 things docs should do to cut the jargon

Lincoln is still with me, honestly

Don't worry. I haven't forgotten Lincoln. He is with me everyday, really. Back when I worked as a communications analyst at an insurance company, I had a big penny on my desk to remind me to pursue my dreams. I also had a lot of other Lincoln-related items, including a desk calendar from one of my readers, who has become a friend. In more than one room of my house are bookshelves with Lincoln books. Heck, he's even on one of my favorite T-shirts. Some of those desk items are not yet unpacked from the box where I put them when I left my old job, but the penny and the calendar are here with me every day to remind me that Lincoln will always play a role in making my dreams come true, no matter what they are.

For, if a grocer from the prairie could become the President of the United States, another former grocer and insurance scribe 150 years later can surely see her dreams come true, can't she?

Career number three, watch out! Here comes Ann.

Hello, world. Wonder where I’ve been? Who I am? Where I’m going?

Me, too.

To my many loyal readers who came every day during the bicentennial year looking for information on Lincoln events, news of Lincoln celebrations, reviews of Lincoln books or a look at Lincoln sites and a bit about scholars, thank you. You motivated me, you sustained me. You made all the work seem like play.

For more than a year, from October 2008 to February 2010, this blog was my life. Sharing with you my passion for Abraham Lincoln drove me, sustained me. Then, for a while, I took a rest. I needed it. Next, with the help of my family, we set about some renovations here at home to prepare for a coming transition.

Finally, I was off in pursuit of my next goal – what I would do for a living when my husband and I relocate from our home on the prairies of Central Illinois to the rolling hills and calming waters of Mid-Missouri. It’s a return to roots for me in a sense, as my grandfather left Missouri for Illinois and my grandmother nearly 100 years ago.

What I didn’t expect was for the goalpost to drop clear off the field, to be replaced by a backstop, a basket, a goal net at the end of an arena.

In the past year, seemingly out of nowhere, I had an opportunity to write a book, to apply for a coveted fellowship and to post for a marvelous new career. The book’s still a work in progress, the fellowship pursuit moved to the back burner for another time and the new career starts now. I can’t wait.

The first day of the rest of my life

As I publish this post this morning, I’m about to head off to my last day of work at COUNTRY® Financial, where I’ve spent the last 13 and a half years. When I began this blog, I took great care never to mix my blogger life with my professional life. I never wanted anything I did here to reflect in any way on the very fine organization for which I worked. Yet, always, I kept in mind that as a COUNTRY employee, even in my off hours, I was representing the organization. So, I avoided controversy, used appropriate language, wrote so I would never be embarrassed if my mother read what I wrote. (She does, so that was good on more than one account.)

If this is the first time ever you’ve heard what I did for a living, it’s as I intended – not because I wasn’t proud of where I was, but on the contrary, because I respected a fine organization and wanted never to do anything to disappoint it (the old mother rule again – works pretty well in life, I think).

At COUNTRY, I had the opportunity to use what I learned in my first career – almost 30 years in customer service at a supermarket – and to build further the skills for a career that didn’t even exist when I started stacking the blocks. I worked first in the Loss Reporting Unit, fielding calls from clients calling in claims, then in the Customer Service Center, assisting clients when their financial representatives weren’t available, and finally in Communications, where I wrote for our corporate intranet and worked on other communication as well.

Now, at the stage in life when some choose to retire, I take those skills and move on. Monday, April 4, is the first day of my new life. I start my third career – one with yet another well-respected organization whose Vision is one in which I believe.

My cube just got bigger

As I retire from COUNTRY today, I’m stepping out of a fabric-covered cubicle and into a space with no boundaries. I’ll be co-editing the Ragan Communications website for healthcare communicators, and my cube is wherever I can research, write, post stories. It can be my home office, my deck, a coffee shop or conference – anywhere I can be connected and connect.

When I was a new communicator, my manager and coworkers introduced me to Ragan newsletters and webinars. Later, they shared information they learned at Ragan conferences and sent links to communication-related articles on Ragan’s websites. Now, I’ll be attending some of those conferences myself, writing for the website, building relationships with readers as starved for helpful information as I once was, still am.

What I’ll be doing for Ragan is really much like what I did here during the Bicentennial – finding information my readers need and want and sharing it with them.

Please come visit our healthcare communications website and snoop around on our other Ragan websites, listed at the top of the Ragan.com home page.

And follow me on Twitter as @RaganHealth.

Don’t forget to tell your friends or family members who are healthcare communicators to follow me there. In this day and age, that moniker fits many – not just marketing or public relations people at hospitals, but doctors, nurses, health departments, pharmaceutical representatives - essentially anyone, anywhere who communicates with the public about healthcare, through traditional or social media or, yes, even in person.

Lincoln Buff 2 isn’t dead yet

In case you’re wondering about Lincoln Buff 2, don’t be too alarmed. She’s still kicking, just less frequently and with different moves than during the bicentennial year. I still tweet as @LincolnBuff2. I’ll still drop in here from time to time and you’ll still find me cropping up at Lincoln events here and there.

This Lincoln jaunt has been an unbelievable journey. I set out in search of Abe and found Ann. And, she’s having a blast!

Thanks for joining me on my trek. You’ve made it all the more amazing.

Hugs,

Ann

P.S. Wonder why the big smile? You would be, too, if you were retiring and heading for an opportunity doing something else you love almost as much as Lincoln. Yes, I am in love with social media, too. You can tell my hubby if you want, but I think he's already figured it out. ;-)

Happy birthday #202, President Lincoln!

Here in Illinois, where we grow up living and breathing the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln, the prairie lad who made it from a log cabin to the White House, it's not hard to forget what February 12th is, even though someone, sometime, somewhere created some joint birthday celebration and called it President's Day.

Yep, you can't even walk or drive past a vehicle in the Prairie State without being reminded it's the Land of Lincoln. And, that's okay with me. I can be assured that, thanks to my license plate, no matter where I travel on this nation's highways, I'm evangelizing for my pal, Lincoln.

Lincoln lives
Today, folks, Lincoln turns 202. I know, I know, as my coworker friends and old school chums, who constantly rib me, would remind me, "No, Ann, he's not 202. He's dead, remember?"

And, you know what I've got to say about that? John Wilkes Booth may have snuffed the life out of his body, but no one will ever kill his spirit, quelch the "right to rise"* which he so strongly represents. In 1950s, when I first discovered Lincoln, the 1970s when I introduced him to my own daughter, the 1990s, when I shared his story with my first grandson, or the 21st century when we celebrated the bicentennial of his birth and began using all kinds of new technology and mediums to share his story, we can still learn from Lincoln, we can still be inspired by his story.

Take time for Lincoln
Dear reader, today please take a minute to learn something new about Lincoln yourself. Find a Lincoln story you didn't know, discover a Lincoln letter or speech, learn a lesson from the life he lived. Then, when you do, tell someone. Teach a child of 4 or a grandparent of 94.

Find the Lincoln site nearest you and take your friends and family along to visit. Drop in at a senior center or a nursing home and let someone with Lincoln-like wit and wisdom tell you what they remember learning about our 16th President, how he inspired them.

Watch a documentary, read a book, pen your own tribute to Lincoln. But don't let this day pass by without stopping to reflect on how different this country, this state, perhaps even our lives would have been if this man had never lived or risen to a stature not unlike many of his statues - larger than life.

Join us in Springfield
As for me, you'll find me in the same place I was last year and the year before and a Lincoln's birthday when I was a child and Illinois kids still got his birthday as a day out of school - in Springfield. There's tons to do down there all day today, much of it free of cost. If you're in the neighborhood, check out this blog post by my Lincoln blogger colleague, Chris Umhoefer, on his Heart of Lincoln Land blog. I'll be at events at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln's Home and more. Hope to see you there!

Follow me on Twitter
I'm also on Twitter as LincolnBuff2. Though my tweets since the bicentennial have become much more eclectic, reflecting many of my interests - books, museums, National Parks, aviation, social media, and my favorite authors, such as Richard Bach and Richard Paul Evans, I still remember Old Abe from time to time.

Today, as I attend events in Springfield, I'll try to tweet when I can. I don't have a snazzy new 3G or 4G phone yet, so my Twitter application is a bit clunky and uncooperative at times. I'll tweet some, though. Please, don't hesitate to tweet a link to this article or retweet my Lincoln's birthday tweets.

Happy Lincoln Day, blogosphere! Ann


* "Right to rise" is a term made famous by Lincoln scholar, Gabor Boritt, a Hungarian refugee, whose own story of rising above adversity is told in a marvelous documentary, Budapest to Gettysburg, directed by his son Jake Boritt.

Honor Lincoln and help break world record

Hey, friends.

Our buddy Abraham Lincoln's birthday isn't until Saturday, but tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 at 11 a.m., Central Time, you can join in and give him a gargantuan birthday gift. As part of the kickoff of the Civil War Sequicentenial and on the 150th anniversary of the day Lincoln said farewell to Springfield, you can help break a world record.

At the Great Western Depot, known as the Lincoln Depot, and at sites all around the nation, people will gather for a simultaneous reading of Lincoln's Farewell Address. This speech is still one of the ones that always moves me the most. I can't read it or hear it without getting tears in my eyes.

You can learn all about the celebration, rules and more at the special website dedicated to the event. And, be sure you watch the video, where my friend, Lincoln, (Fritz Klein on other days) delivers his very powerful performance of the speech.

New year, new motivation, even new links

Nothing like waiting until nearly the end of the month to write my first blog post, huh? Especially when I haven't written one for more than three months. What a slacker...

Well, I'm back, folks. I won't be writing as often as I did during the bicentennial, but I will try to write more often than I did in 2010.

Redefining my mission
One of my biggest questions these last few weeks, months has been what my mission should be going forward. During the bicentennial year, I devoted nearly every waking, non-working moment of my time to my Lincoln mission. I wanted to make sure you, my visitors, had all the information you needed to get to the events in your communities, know of the tributes across the country, not miss out on celebrating Lincoln at 200 years. I had a blast! Hope you did, too.

From October 2008 through December 2009, I did more than 200 blog posts, attended more events than I can remember, met many people I never imagined I'd meet, and visited Lincoln sites I'd only dreamed of ever seeing. Most days, I was lucky to get four or five hours of sleep a night. And, you know what? It was worth it! I loved what I was doing. I did it as much for me as I did for you.

The reality of it, though, was that I couldn't keep that pace up forever. In 2010, I caught up on family, home renovations and more. I did a lot of soul searching trying to determine what my role should be going forward, what this blog should be. I knew there were several big years coming up between fall 2010 and 2015 - the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's inauguration, journey to the White House, Presidential years, assassination and train trip home. Add to that the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, and it makes me want to take a nap just thinking of how much there is to be learned, rediscovered.

New motivation
Don't worry. My mission has always been to use my passion for the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln to inspire yours. That hasn't changed. What has changed is the medium through which I feel I can best do this and move toward my dreams.

I love Lincoln. If you've read one blog post or 100, you know that with all certainty. I have another love, writing - and this blog has been an incredible outlet for that. But, last fall I had an opportunity of a lifetime - a chance to write my first book, one about Lincoln. My manuscript finished, I sent it off for some review, and am now back at work on revisions.

It was time to reassess where I need to put my time, my energy, my talents. I struggled with this. I love my readers, I loved blogging, but I knew with the sequicentennial coming, to cover it, I'd be back where I was in 2008 and 2009. I just can't do that - and write my books.

And, besides, the Lincoln I know best is the popular Lincoln, the Illinois guy who made it big against all odds, the self-made man, lifelong learner from humble beginnings who inspires and motivates. I don't know politics, I don't know the Civil War, I am not nearly as familiar with the White House years. So, it was time to step back and say, "Ann, you've got to let others do this."

There are other folks writing about Lincoln now, and even more writing about the Civil War. I urge you to seek them out.

In the meantime, I'll drop in from time to time, to alert you to a new book or a Lincoln event. But for the most part, my energy will be to finish this book and write the next one. Hope you'll all be around to read it when it's done.

New links
I have updated some links on my blog and you'll find I've also rearranged the left-hand navigation some. With the bicentennial past, some of those websites are no longer available. I've removed dead links. I also added some Lincoln sites I overlooked in the past. Because there are so very many Civil War blogs, I've provided you one-stop shopping with a link to one website which lists a number of Civil War sites.

I haven't forgotten you, folks. Please don't forget me. At Lincoln Buff 2. you'll still find links to lots of information you need and lots of interesting information about Lincoln in my more than 200 earlier blog posts. Thanks for visiting. Ann

I am an author

I looked up author in the dictionary: the writer of a literary work (as a book).

It doesn't say "published book." It just says "book." I wrote one, folks. Typed those precious three letters -end- about an hour ago.

So, I guess I am an author.

I can't yet share much, but I can tell you you'll find Lincoln in this book, he'll inspire you and you'll learn from him. Along the way, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll stop and think.

There's more to this whole writing process than meets the eye, folks - tears, exhilaration, doubt, certainty. And, at the end there is one tremendous sense of satisfaction!

Next steps
This was but one step in an ongoing process. First, you fight the ideas. Then, once you find it, you fight to keep the words from rushing out at times when you can't capture them. Next, you make it the biggest priority ever, so you can write, write, write. You write till you drop. You write till you're done. Then you type -end-.

It will rest a bit now, then undergo sculpting, rest a bit again, get some polish, and travel away.

I'll let you know how the journey goes. I can tell you I'm very proud of my little gem.

Thanks to all who offered their support. I did it!

Ann

In the zone

To fulfill a lifelong dream and, hopefully, to entertain and inspire others, I am now working on a manuscript. I must make it a priority, or it will not come to be as it is destined. I must be: In. The. Zone.

So, effective immediately, I will not be checking Twitter or my other social media vehicles. Writing is, it must be - for me, at least - a very solitary journey.

Distractions are DreamKillers, so I must slay them first.

Encouragement, on the other hand, is a DreamBuilder. I need it. If you are so inclined - or destined - to encourage me, please post a comment on my blog. I will not check daily and I may not reply often, but I will read every one, and they will fuel the writer that is me, and I will be forever in your debt.

If I can leave you with one final thought, as I begin this journey, it is this: Listen. Do you hear who you are or are supposed to be? Do you see your dream - off there in the distance? What are you doing to make it come true? Isn't it time to start?

And, of course, I'd be remiss in not saying, look every day for the lessons you can learn from our friend, Mr. Lincoln, and hear, and use them in your lives.

Outta here and in the zone...

Hugs,
Ann

Long gone - Gone longer

To all my readers: My apologies for not posting more frequently in 2010. This has been a busy year for my family and me, and I readjusted priorities for a while.

I wanted to let you know they've shifted again, but keep your fingers crossed. You just might have something pretty doggoned cool to look forward to.

I am now writing again - but in a different medium.

I've been blessed through my late-in-life writing and research career with some of the most magificent mentors ever - brilliant, gifted, supportive, prolific writers. They've been with me as I tried to find myself, provided me with information I sought and, above all, encouraged me with great sincerity to pursue my dreams. I have, and it has been good, great, quite often even greater than great.

Now, with a subtle nudge (Okay, it wasn't subtle. It was a push off a cliff without a parachute.) from another incredible mentor, I am writing - a book! The words are coming in torrents and I think, I believe, I know, this is the story I was supposed to tell all along. As one of my oldest (in time, not age), dearest friends told me when she heard, "Ann, you've been writing around writing long enough!" And so, I write.

If I achieve my goal, it will teach, entertain, make you laugh, make you cry and fulfill one of my greatest dreams.

Yes, if you were wondering, Mr. Lincoln is in it - and a suprising supporting cast. No, none of them are vampires.

Thanks for dropping by. Thanks for your support. Don't forget - learn something new, every day - every single day. And, if it's about Lincoln, all the better.

Please know, I will be back in the blogosphere eventually. It's been too great a part of my Lincoln life to leave behind.

Till next time,
Ann