President’s Day, a Girl, and a Pen

How awesome is our country?

My favorite pen when I was in 5th grade had Spiro Agnew's signature on it. I got it on a field trip to the White House. Yep. I'm that old. Dude was Vice President during the Nixon Administration. So, okay, the guy had issues–extortion, tax fraud, bribery and conspiracy among them. But he had a beautiful signature.

I used to take that pen out and run my fingers across the black, spidery-scripted name embossed on its buffed silver surface. "Spiro" was a cool name. And it was the only famous name I was in possession of. I liked it so much that when he and his boss got kicked out of Washington, I went with my parents to watch the former Pres and Veep get on board their jets at Andrew's Airforce Base and leave town for good. I even waved.

I didn't know from extortion, tax fraud, bribery, or conspiracy at that age. Much less anything about a place called "Watergate." Nope. All I knew was that Mr. Agnew had an awesome signature on an awesome pen given to me during an awesome field trip at the awesomest place on earth: The White House. The seat of Freedom in the western world. The place where if the guy at the top isn't doing the very best he can, he can be asked to leave. Without trouble.

So, this President's Day, a pen that I no longer have comes to mind, and the special way I felt about it does too. Not because I thought what Mr. Agnew and Mr. Nixon did was okay. But because we lived in a land where it was okay for the people to say that what their leaders had done wasn't okay. And we were able to do something about it. Peacefully. Through a due process. Governed and dictated by a Constitution that was written by, for, and of the People of this country.

And a little girl with a pen was able to understand that the office that pen represented was an office of honor, honesty, and freedom. And when those things had been violated, the office stayed, and the people occupying it left.

Thank you to all of our presidents, past and present, who have upheld our office, and our freedom with dignity and honor, and made this a most marvelous place to live. May those in the future continue to do so. And may all of their names on all of their pens always represent things done by, for, and of the people.