yes, i only made a 2 on my AP u.s. history exam

 edwin booth

i was an english major. and it's been said that english lovers gravitate toward history, while math and science go together. however, that was not the case for me, and i'm ashamed to say i don't know as much history as i could, or should.

my pastor told this story in church on sunday, and it just about blew me away. i'm probably the only person in the entire world who didn't know this.

john wilkes booth, the man who shot lincoln, had a brother, edwin booth. both were stage actors.

very shortly before lincoln's assassination, edwin was waiting for a train. he saw a man slip down between the station platform and the train car. edwin reached down and pulled the man out and up, into safety. edwin didn't know who the man was, only that he needed help.

The man who edwin saved wrote about the incident in a 1909 letter:

The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.

and here's the kicker:

months later, edwin received a letter from ulysses s. grant.

thanking him for saving robert lincon, abraham's son. 

crazy, crazy, crazy. such a beautiful coincidence. that one brother can chose death, while the other life.

it blew my mind sitting in the pew and the irony of it all still hangs with me. this was probably a story we learned in middle school american history class, but at that point in my life i was highly, highly engrossed in accumulating as many accelerated reader points as i could, and spent my days nose deep in novels.

so now i'm playing catch-up on my history, and  falling in love with the little touches of humanity woven into this great, big american quilt.

a universal truth

"We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us.  I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us."

there's nothing i can say today, no words i can think up, quotes from favorite books or songs that i can recite, or musings i can drone on about that will match the heart, beauty and truth of last night's presidential speech in tucson. i'll be honest. i don't always watch televised speeches, and when i do, my attention is divided, scattered at best. 


but republican or democrat, regardless of how you feel about his policies, practices or the way he runs our country, last night wasn't about that. it was a tribute. plain and simple. to the lives lost and the people--real, flesh and blood people with histories, presents and futures--that were affected. and that universal truth transcends political boundaries.


i hung to every word. and i'm certain it was one for the history books. it was even worth missing half of modern family for, and i don't say that lightly.


find the full transcript and video here.