Looking back at my posts from last month, I realized that I forgot to post about George Washington. So here it is- the top 5 reasons why George Washington is Cool!
5.
He was a Mason. This is actually top on Reed's list since he is quite interested in the Masons but I think it's cool too. I know a lot of LDS folk that are wary of the Masons and even view them as satanic but that is far from the truth. I believe that they are good people with good intentions, even "if" their organization is controlled by the Illuminati now. Did you know that in order to join the Masons you need to declare a belief in God (or perhaps any higher being, I can't remember).
4.
He had a wonderful loving marriage. I loved learning about George and Martha Washington's relationship which we actually don't know much about. But I know that they truly loved each other. They wrote a lot of letters back and forth during their 40 years of marriage, letters which Martha burned after the death of her husband. Sometimes I wish she would have let us read them but then, would I want my letters to my husband read after my death? Probably not. I think it was a loving gesture on her part, her last way to keep her husband to herself. I love this artist's depiction of a young Martha Washington. Isn't she beautiful? I also enjoyed reading
this blog post about their relationship.
3.
He had a beautiful home. We toured Mt. Vernon on our President's Day trip to Maryland and just standing on his porch, looking out over the river... I just knew why he loved the country so much. It was gorgeous! Everything about the estate was beautiful- the gardens (even though nothing was blooming at the time), the house (can we say "I want that"?), the river, etc. He definitely knew how to build a beautiful home.
2.
He knew that slavery was wrong. People use the example of the Founding Fathers owning slaves as a reason to throw doubt on their true motives for our country. I think that's rubbish. George Washington knew that he needed to pick his battles for our fledgling nation and that the topic of slavery would tear us apart. The Civil War shows us that he was right. So he started with his own personal life instead. He treated his slaves extremely well while he was living and he put in his will that all his slaves would be freed after his wife's death. She actually freed them a year after he died. He also provided an income to his slaves after they were freed.
1.
He believed in God. This might just be an artist's fancy but I don't think it's far from the truth. Someday we will have this picture, painted by Arnold Friberg, hanging in our home.
And a bonus reason why George Washington is Cool- He and Lara share the same birthday. :)
