Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. I remember when we celebrated this birthday on his actual birthday, in school, with lots of information and details about his wondrous life and what he did as president. I loved it, even as much as Valentines day. Honest Abe we called him. And we heard stories about his log splitting, his politicking on trains, and even the growth of the beard as suggested by a young girl.

Then, of course, we also celebrated George Washington’s birthday, on his real birthday, too. His real birthday is February 22. We heard from our school teachers about him cutting down the cherry tree and then telling his dad “I cannot tell a lie!” and other tidbits of his true character. These two men were great examples to us, not only of honesty, but also of strength of character, overcoming obstacles, facing daunting problems.

Then, of course, it became expedient to add a new national holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. The calendar didn’t have enough for all the approved federal remembrances, so someone came up with the nutty idea of joining Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays together and one holiday and calling it “President’s Day’, and then having that day on a Monday to lengthen the weekend holiday. We would then also have a separate day called Martin Luther Day, or now Civil Rights Day.

I later learned that the official Federal Calendar still has both President Lincoln’s and President Washington’s birthday on their real birthdays, and civil rights day may not be an actual day off. But oh well.

I have also learned that with the new President’s Day, most young people don’t even know which president we were honoring. Pick your favorite one, it doesn’t matter. President Cleveland and President Eisenhower? Your choice. And, to top it off, we don’t teach those great stories about Honest Abe, or about George Washington. I think that’s the biggest shame!