Thomas Jefferson

I was at Monticello recently, and I had two really fantastic guides. The house tour guide made a point at the very end of the tour that made me really think, and yes, get a little teary. She was telling us where the family cemetery was and talking about the epitaph, which he wrote himself, on his tomb. It reads:

HERE WAS BURIED

THOMAS JEFFERSON

AUTHOR OF THE

DECLARATION

OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

OF THE

STATUTE OF VIRGINIA

FOR

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

AND FATHER OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

BORN APRIL 2, 1743 O.S.

DIED JULY 4. 1826

Of all the things this man accomplished, including being the third president of the United States, Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, and Vice President he chose these thee things to be remembered for.  The accomplishments he was most proud of all were based on Freedom:

Freedom of the people to govern themselves,

Freedom of religion, and

Freedom of the mind through public education.

Later, at the visitor's center I was watching the movie about the Declaration of Independence, and at the end there was a montage of the world governments that have been built on the prinicples that Jefferson espoused in that document.  That all men are created equal, that we are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and during that moment I sat with tears streaming down my face, thinking how lucky we are to be Americans, and how often we take it for granted.

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."  --Thomas Jefferson

September 2010

September was a pretty low-key month around here...thank goodness. After all the drama of moving and car troubles and a new job and the 1,000 other things that have gone on over the last 5 months I needed a little break.

I did manage to cross another place of my list, Winterthur, make another trip out to Lancaster to visit Amish Country, and enroll back in college to finish my B.A.

Unfortunately, things are notlooking any brighter at work, and at this point I'm merely counting off the time to fulfill the time in job requirement to post out, but at least it's not worse. Although a friend recently coined a new theme of my life, "Nothing goes right in Philadelphia".

But here is hoping that I can get through the next while without any major catastrophes.

October will hopefully bring another 2-3 things off the list and starting school.