It happened 97 years ago today. The day my mother was born, on Bolander Avenue in Dayton, Ohio. She was the only child to come from her parents, Edward and Regina. My guess is, Regina would have no more of THAT.
Mom told us, many times, how much she wanted brothers and sisters. And as a result, she made sure her children had a plentitude. She was a good mom, a kind person to those she met. She was freakish in her ability to fry large amounts of eggs, sunny side up. Mom had a lovely smile. And I miss her.
I wonder if she knew about all the different people with whom she shared this birth date.
James Cook, the explorer. (1728)
Emily Post, the etiquette expert. (1872)
Paul Dixon, the Ohio talk show host. (1918)
Nanette Fabray, actress (1920)
Roy Lichtenstein, Pop art painter (1923)
Sylvia Plath, poet-writer (1932)
John Cleese, actor-comedian (1939)
and many, many more. I would be remiss if I left out the racecar driver, Dick Trickle, born in 1941. That is his real name. Dick Trickle.
Now, I, as a “Polly Kronenberger” am not normally one to throw stones when it comes to other people’s names. However, on occasion, I come across a name, and I wonder why that person never changed it. Dick Trickle is one of those names.
And last but not least is our president, Theodore Roosevelt, who was born on October 27, 1858. He was our 26th president and served from September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909. Roosevelt was also a vice president, and a governor, too — of New York. Mostly, he was dynamic. His life was a series of incredible events, many of them dangerous and sad. Roosevelt survived the tragedy of losing his wife and his mother to illness on the same day in 1884 (Brights Disease and Typhoid Fever, respectively). He also survived an assassination attempt in 1912. And then there was that extremely dangerous military charge in Cuba in 1898.
But there are some little know facts about good Teddy, too.
As a child, Roosevelt witnessed the Abraham Lincoln funeral procession. There is a photo of this — him watching from a window in his grandfather’s mansion in NYC.
Theodore Roosevelt had an amazing memory. He claimed it was photographic, and it might have been. He would recite long passages of poetry and full documents, years and years after he had seen them.
Roosevelt was the first President to win a Nobel Peace Prize. He saw America having a place as a global peacemaker. So, in 1906, he convinced Japan and Russia to attend a peace conference to end their conflict. He set it up, they came to New Hampshire, and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
He was such a character. He loved to box. As such, he suffered an eye injury while boxing at the White House — a detached retina. He went blind in that eye and gave up boxing. He switched to jiu-jitsu instead. Grasshopper.
Roosevelt was often called “the conservation president.” He had a great impact on our country in this way, doing so much for the National Park System. (Not only while he was in office, but well beyond). While serving as president, he doubled the number of sites within the National Park system.
He was a rowdy Republican. As such, the Republican leaders really didn’t want Roosevelt as President. The reason? Good old Teddy had angered top GOP “big boys” by refusing to appoint Republicans to bureaucratic positions. Despite his unpopularity, a couple of “influentials” were able to “kick Roosevelt upstairs” as the vice presidential nominee in 1900 for McKinley. And our guy Roosevelt agreed because he was thinking of running for President in 1904. Of course, it came as a big shock that Roosevelt had to take over after McKinley’s death, later in 1901.
And then, the best fact of all. Theodore Roosevelt shared birthdays with my mother, Lucy. And let’s face it, without her, none of us would be reading this right now.
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“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
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“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
– William Shakespeare
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“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
– Albert Einstein
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It was more than a date. A lot more.
