Today is George Washington’s birthday. I’m sure you’ve heard all this before, but to recap the early highlights: He was born February 22, 1732, in Pope’s Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, and his good parents were Augustine Washington and Mary Ball. He was the oldest of six kids. I didn’t know that his father, Augustine, had a previous marriage to a woman named Jane Butler. They had three children together, so truly, George was a middle kid.
I looked at Pope’s Creek on a map. It is sort of wedged in on a little piece of land with the Potomac River on one side, and the Rappahannock River on the other. I’d never heard of the later before today. If I were a Rapper, that’s where I’d want to live. I imagine that George was not a Rapper.
There’s nothing I can write about George that will be anything new for you to read. But I will say that he was a snazzy dresser. Or, at least when he’d go to get painted, he sure knew how to clean up. I wonder what that was like, going to get painted. For anyone? For George? Would he be sitting around the living room, feet up on the coffee table, reading the latest edition of Poor Richard’s Almanac, and Martha would yell from the garden, “George, you better get ready. It’s almost time for you to go to the painter’s.” And George would be like, “Oh dang it Martha. Do I really have to ride all the way over to Gilbert Stuart’s house again? I liked Charles Wilson Peale so much better.” And Martha would stick her head in the door, and say, “Now George. You just go out, get on your high horse, and ride over there. Just get it over with. Oh. And don’t forget to put your teeth in.”
And off he’d go.
He seemed to have nice legs too. I mean, his calves always looked buff, what with all the short pants he wore. They all wore shorts pants, I suppose to keep them out of the mud, and such. I’m not sure why else one would wear short pants, other than playing in the NFL. Even major league baseball players wear long pants now.
Anyway, back to George. One of the myths associated with Washington, is that he chopped down that good old cherry tree, and he couldn’t bring himself to lie about the thing. It’s a good story, him, with the ax in his hand, and the little cherry tree, all hacked to pieces. As it turns out, it traces back to a biography written shortly after his death. The book’s author was a guy named Parson Weems. He told a lot of tall tales, as it goes. But whether it is true or not, the story of the cherry tree has led to the tradition of celebrating Washington’s birth with cherry pie. Instead of something more birthday-like. Perhaps yellow cake with chocolate icing. I’m not a fan of cherry pie, because as a kid, we had to pick cherries, and I did not like pitting them. For days, that cherry juice running down our arms it seemed. I’d pick cake for my birthday if I were President.
But I digress, again. I’ll tell you one thing. The United States of America was lucky to have good George Washington as our first President. As the “Father” of our country. I don’t think we could have asked for a better guy. The top three presidents, when you look at the historical rankings, are always George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States. And look at their parties. An independent, a Republican, and a Democrat. We could learn from history, perhaps.
Most of all, I wish we had the likes of George around today. We sure do need a good leader. One who cares about the people. That’s one thing in common with those top three presidents. They cared about the people.
Good reminder for us too. To care about the people. I think altruism has a contagious effect. When we do a kind thing, or a good deed, it ripples outward. When we were kids, my mom used to say, “There. You’ve done your good deed for the day” when we’d take out the trash, or help the neighbor lady carry her groceries in. But it is true. Studies have shown that people are more likely to perform acts of generosity after observing others doing the same. Like dominoes ticking along, I think it can inspire people to make a difference. Even in the smallest ways.
Be like George.
But without the ax.
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“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”
― John Holmes
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“Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.”
― Horace Mann
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“One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.”
― Shannon L. Alder
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