Today celebrates the date of June 19, 1865, when enslaved people of African descent located in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom from the slavery system in the United States.
While the Emancipation Proclamation granted freedom and was signed on January 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln. Texas was the farthest of the Confederate states, and slaveholders there made no attempt to free the enslaved African Americans they held in bondage. President Lincoln’s proclamation was unenforceable without military intervention, which eventually came nearly two and a half years later.
Juneteenth is an important date on the timeline of slavery history in the United States and now a federal holiday just signed into law last year.
Take a moment today and reflect on the importance of this holiday.
“Sheer brilliance….An empowering, transformative read. Bravo.”—Jewell Parker Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys
“Bless them, normal people will go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it’s staring them in the face.” — Arthur Weasley, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
In a group of great fathers in literature, you have to think about Arthur Weasley from The Harry Potter Series.
Arthur truly loves his family and takes on Harry like his own child. He’s a great family guy and also a hard worker. I love his curiosity and awe of the world that he demonstrates to his children.
Cheers to all the dad out there today! Hopefully you get some time to read a great book today!
Happy Flag Day! This holiday commemorates the date in 1777 when the United States approved the design for its first national flag.
Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park
Did you know that the designer of our current flag was a 17-year-old Boy Scout named Robert Heft? What grade do you think he received for this look? A grade of B-minus. His Ohio teacher said the design was unoriginal, but offered to raise it to an A if the design was accepted nationally. So, the boy wrote to his congressman and the rest is history. And yes, he ended up with an A.
As I enter a new decade in my life, I can’t help but reflect on the past ten years (and beyond). If you don’t know or really want to know which decade, ask my children or ask my older friends welcoming me to this club. I plan on answering that I’m 36 years old again. 😉
The previous decade flew by! People always warn you how fast the time with your children goes and these last 10 years really did go fast! Our children are both double digits now with one entering high school and the other only has one more year of elementary school left. I blinked and it flew by! I’m pretty proud of our two kiddos and the adults they’re becoming!
When I think back over these last 10 years, I really think about a time of growth as a family and adventures together. I even wrote and published a children’s book! 😊
I feel very lucky! Over the last ten years, I made a number of new friendships; watch older friendships grow; reconnected with past ones; and said good bye to those whom we lost.
In these last ten years, I have seen three very, very, very different men get elected and serve as Presidents. Kamala Harris became the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American to be Vice President. The United States legalized same-sex marriage across all 50 states. The #MeToo movement went viral. Fidget spinners were a craze. The Paris Agreement, an international treaty, was created to focus on climate change. We experienced a total eclipse. Space-X launched astronauts to the space station. The Black Lives Matter movement started. Astronomers were able to capture the first-ever image of a black hole. The U.S. established June 19th as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. COVID-19 spread around the world. And of course, the Chicago Cubs broke the curse and won the World Series in 2016!
While I enter this next decade with some angst, I also welcome the next ten years of adventures and life. In fact, I feel very, very grateful!
“This a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” Maya Angelou
