Washington, D.C.

I knew that I would find Washington DC fascinating.  

I had no idea that so many parts of it would so deeply move me.  

that’s about as close as you can get to the White House!

We stayed with our friends Chris and Heather in Virginia during the days that we were in DC.  

Their daughter Lisy and our Lily were fast friends during the three days we were there.  Lily cried when we left…Lisy was special.  

at the Museum of American History–this is the car that made the very first road trip across America.  It took him about 3 months….we did it in 2 1/2 weeks.  

at the Museum of Natural History.  This was seriously probably the coolest museum ever.  Dinosaur bones, the Hope Diamond, an incredible mineral/gem display…we only got 2 hours there, but could have spent all day.

and this starts the emotional part for me.  

These were the chairs from the Greensboro Sit-In during the Civil Rights Era.  

We saw the actual 13th Amendment.

We saw an original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.  

And I knelt there with my African daughter and tried to read it to her, and I choked up.  

And we gazed on the Memorials of these two great men, who changed America, and are a major reason why I could stand there with my African children and call them my own.  

and we thought on all the men who gave their lives so that we could have freedom.

and at this tomb, in Arlington National Cemetery, we taught our children about respect and reverence and honor for those who sacrificed for what we have in this truly great country.

the Washington and Jefferson Memorials at night

There is much we can complain about in this country.  But I have lived in several other countries in my lifetime, and visited many others, and there is no place like America.  

No other country encourages immigration like she does, who welcomes the poor and the refugee.  No other guarantees the freedoms and the opportunities that we have.  

There is much that is wrong, but there is still much that is right.